Konoha Vice
by olehoncho
Summary: The 80s were a time of greed and excess. People did not just enjoy their vices, they reveled in them. Konoha, the big city in South Florida, needed Law and Order as big as the challenges it faced. Detectives Inuzuka and Aburame take on the toughest cases with Assistant DA Hyuuga prosecuting them. This isn't a typical Naruto story. This is Konoha Vice. Updates weekly... Pairings?
1. Kiba and Akamaru take the long way home

Akamaru's bark brought Kiba's attention back to the road. They had just passed Clewiston, Florida on the Southern Boulevard and were now an hour and a half away from home. To the south were sugar cane fields as far as the eye could see, but for the next few miles his gaze was going to wander north to Lake Okeechobee. While he lived in Konoha and was no stranger to the waters of the Atlantic, this small stretch of the lake always seemed to hold his attention better than the entire ocean.

As though reading his thoughts, Akamaru gave out a bark that seemed more a laugh. Chuckling himself, Kiba admitted, "Yeah I suppose when I'm down on the beach, it's not the ocean I have my eyes on." Reaching out his right hand to scratch the dog on his ears, he turned his eyes back to the road to continue the drive home. "Been a long couple of days, hasn't it boy? Going to be good back home and in our beds, won't it?" Akamaru licked his lips, sat up in the car and leaned his head out the window.

The conference up north was some sort of new initiative in the war on drugs, and the expansion of the role of police dogs. While not strictly a K-9 Officer, his family had bred dogs for the police for generations. His sister was a K-9 cop, but she had other duties to attend to. His mother on the other hand had no such obligations, but was in the middle of an epic golf match with some out of state politician or businessman or some such personality as she often spent her time with. That left him to keep an eye on Akamaru in a room full of other highly trained dogs with entirely too much sniffing going on. For all that, the other officers were impressed with Akamaru, who was smart enough to confirm the type of drug he smelled by growling in response to officer's questioning. Still, it was a weekend of being cooped up, and being out on the road offered all the release they needed.

"Yeah, I'm glad we didn't take a plane either." While they could have been home yesterday had they taken a plane, Kiba was sure deep inside he would have wound up in the seat behind some teenage girl singing "Walk like an Egyptian" for the thousandth time in the past month. By this point on the eight hour road trip back home he had already gone through all the cassette tapes in his car's tray. "What do you think boy? Should we try the radio, even if it's not that reliable out here?" The dog turned his head and poked his nose at the glove compartment, which caused Kiba to roll his eyes at his own forgetfulness. Opening the glove box he found the tape he had put in there to hide from Shino last week for fear his friend would steal it for himself. Putting it in the player, he rubbed his dog's head again as Lionel Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling" started playing. Clapping his hands on the steering wheel, Kiba drummed along to the song as he started turning his car south, away from the Lake and through the Everglades and towards Konoha.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, skipping the main highways added to his trip time but he wasn't too eager to get back into action just yet. He had to drop Akamaru off at his Mother's home in Doral before checking in at the station. It was farther out of the way than it needed to be, but his mother liked the community and the open spaces out there. For a trainer of police dogs, she was notorious around the golf courses in the area both in professional and recreational capacities.

Rolling into the driveway he was puzzled that neither his mother's nor his sister's cars were parked in the driveway. The garage was full with supplies for the kennels, and no car had ever been parked inside for as long as he could remember. Akamaru jumped out on his own and towards the gate before Kiba had even parked his car. He gave the dog a look that said "sit" and Akamaru was a disciplined police dog, for at least a few seconds. At just over a year he was still a puppy at heart, but he had done well at the convention. Emptying the bags from the trunk, he just left them on his mother's porch before pausing at the fence to the backyard.

"What do you say boy? Care to sleep over at my place tonight?" Akamaru's animated bark was all the answer he needed. "Yeah, we're going to the beach, we're going to play in the sand and get all dirty and tomorrow when I drop you back here mom will be furious with me at how I didn't give you a bath at all…" The crook to Akamaru's head and an impressive feeling coming from behind him was all Kiba needed to know about the situation, "Hi Mom, I'm back from Tallahassee." Turning around, Kiba saw the reason for his mother's stealthy approach. She had been driving a golf cart instead of her Challenger. "Leave your car down at the course?"

Without a word his mother approached him, reached into his left pocket to pull out a dog treat, pushed him aside, and gave the treat to Akamaru. "That's a good boy. Did you have a nice trip up north?" Standing up and leading the dog inside, she spoke without turning her head, "I already got a call about how the conference went. 'Flying colors, great potential' they said. So what are you doing down there lying on the grass, getting your good coat stained? Go out and party with your friends already." The smile on her face was genuine, but the look in her eyes was serious and almost menacing. A rare breed his mother was, scary and loving all at once.

"See you tomorrow then Mom! Come on Akamaru." Kiba flicked his keys in his hand and was about to leave, but he paused before his hand grabbed the door handle. Stepping back, he went over to give his mother a kiss on her cheek before leaving. She dismissed him with a nod as he drove east, out to the city. After a long day the last thing he wanted to do was work, and to be honest it would take a day or two to adjust back to being up all night as he was usually, but he'd have to stay active to make that change. "Forget the station, I'm sure whatever the chief wants to yell at me today can wait until tomorrow."

Arriving back at his house by the bay, the first thing to do was take off the seat cover he had over the passenger seat. It was one thing to have dog hair and claw marks on an ordinary service vehicle, but this was car was his baby, one of his most important tools in his line of work. Looking presentable and respectable was all part of the game here in Konoha. Sure his RX-7 Turbo might not have been as fast as the higher end cars the criminal underground and elite favored, but a car chase was more of a rally race than an Indycar race, which gave his "Red Fang" the edge. Shino still rolled his eyes whenever he heard the car's name. His partner was a good man, but he had little appreciation for classic, dramatic flair.

It was late in the afternoon by this point, time enough for a jog along the beach before grabbing dinner and crashing at the house. He changed into his shorts and a tank top before grabbing Akamaru's leash and a Frisbee and starting his jog across the Venetian Causeway down to the beach. While it made for a nice run, the causeway had two bascule bridges, and at the moment one was raised on its bottom of the hour schedule. Some rich, dark-haired boy on a yacht was sipping champagne and pretending to be a sailor to the delight of the young ladies aboard his vessel. Konoha, like every other city, had its classes; rich folks, working men and women, and the poor trying to get by from day to day. The first thing he had learned as a cop was the distinction between harmless vices, and ones that can do real damage. Case in point, college kids sneaking alcohol onto the beach the week before college started up to blow off steam was relatively harmless.

Sadly the city had some dumb ordinances against letting dogs run out on the sand, so keeping Akamaru on the grassy park was the usual way of things. He never had political aspirations, but if he were ever mayor he'd want to change that. "Go long boy!" Tossing out the Frisbee, Akamaru chased after, caught it, and returned it to Kiba while vigorously wagging his tail. "If only our local sports stars had your passion, we'd never lose a game."

Akamaru's ears perked up at the distant sound of a woman screaming. Running along the nearby road was a man clutching a satchel of some sort. For a brief moment he considered sending Akamaru after him, but that would involve way more paperwork than he wanted to do. Flipping the Frisbee in his hands, he slung it at the man's head. Coming in from the blind spot, the Frisbee made contact, not hurting him at all but the shock of it, plus his frantic speed sent him falling to the ground. Righting himself, the criminal dropped the purse and made a getaway. The work was like that sometimes. Criminals get away, but they don't always get what they're after either. The lady was affable about the return of her purse, saying she wanted to buy Kiba dinner, but he found a polite way out of it. Grabbing the Frisbee, Kiba nodded to the dog and the two started off back home.

Dry dog food and a fresh bowl of water for Akamaru was all the tired dog needed after a long day. Finished with that, Kiba turned to open his fridge, empty of everything but half a bottle of ketchup and a three-day old container of chinese food he didn't enjoy when it was fresh. Truth be told he wasn't all that hungry anyways. A glass of water and some beef jerky from the cabinet were satisfying enough for him, and that was good enough because that was all he had. A fancy house near the beach made for a nice appearance, but life needs more than appearance to be worth living… but that was something to ponder another day.

The answering machine on his phone showed six messages, he ran through them all rather quickly. Two from girls he had no interest in, one from Shino checking in on him, one from Sergeant Nara about needing the paperwork from the last case filled out, a telemarketer, and finally the landlord saying rent was going to go up in a couple of months. Not even the Super Bowl on tv interested him tonight. Maybe tomorrow would be enough to hold his interest, because today had done nothing but wear him down.

"Get some shuteye boy, going to be a busy day tomorrow." Stealing one glance out his window, he saw the lights of downtown shine in the dark, winter sky. Already sliding into a dream of some sort, and feeling like a superhero of some sort, he issued a challenge to those who live in the night, "Watch out criminals of Konoha, you have but one more peaceful night. For when the sun rises I'll return to duty. Then I'll pick up your scent and things will get wi-ld." Barely keeping it together, Kiba sat down on the floor and curled up with Akamaru before falling asleep.


	2. Case 1 - Slippery When Wet

The first time Kiba woke up was with the sun, with eyes too bleary to see the time on his clock was just past seven in the morning. Being away from his house for three days he had turned the alarm off and of course he had forgotten to turn it back on when he got home. He had slept on the floor with Akamaru before, but right now the bed was calling to him. Staring the day wouldn't be for another four hours to his radio turning on to play "Hungry like the wolf" by Duran Duran. Right on cue and all too appropriate as he felt his stomach rumble at him.

Sitting up in bed and scratching his face, Kiba realized it was finally time to get up. A shower and a shave were just what he needed. While wiping down the mirror he heard his sister call from the other room. "I'm here to pick up Akamaru, Shino wanted me to remind you about that paperwork you have from the last case." His sister was the real K-9 officer, but more often than not Kiba wound up working with Akamaru because she oversaw twelve other teams in the city area. Just finishing applying the shaving cream to his face, Hana angrily opened the bathroom and talked while chewing something. "I'm worried about you baby brother, you need to do more to take care of yourself. Buy some groceries," licking her fingers, she swallowed what was clearly the last of his beef jerky, "I'll see you later Kid." With a slug on his shoulder, and a bark from Akamaru, they were finally gone.

As long as he could remember, his sister had avoided calling him by name. It was always "kid" or "junior" or "baby brother" to her. It never really bothered him, just one of the many eccentricities of his family he had come to accept. Like his mother joking that she scared his father away, but the nights when she gingerly held his father's dog tags she always wore around her neck told him more about the man his father was than she ever did.

Walking to his room, he let his hands run along his suits for a moment as he decided what he wanted to wear today. The pink shirt he chose used to be white, but a red headscarf had been left behind in the Laundromat made his load of whites red, he refused to buy new shirts and pink had been one of his trademark colors ever since. A white sports jacket and pants completed the look. A bulge in his jacket pocket reminded drew his attention, and then he remembered that was where he hid his new cassette. Smiling, he realized what he was going to listen to on the way to work. The opening electric guitar chord and keyboard sounding like an organ sounded like some preacher had gone mad at church. Slippery When Wet got his blood heated up, set him on a good edge for the day.

He got into the station half past noon, right as everyone was taking lunch break. The officer at the front desk raised his eyebrow when he heard Kiba was still whistling "You give love a bad name". Making a stop at the break room, he rummaged through the fridge and grabbed an apple and half of someone's tuna sandwich before making his way to his office. Shino was sitting in the next room over, and Kiba wanted to make sure he was sitting down before his partner started speaking. Sure enough, his partner promptly put down his newspaper and made his way over as Kiba took a bite from the green apple.

"Do you know what time it is?" Shino asked, not seeming as though he wanted an answer.

"Yeah, it's lunch time." Kiba took another bite from the apple.

"You were supposed to be in at nine this morning, and now it's twelve forty."

"Itadakimasu." In three bites the sandwich was gone, and Shino's expression went from dour to sour.

"Green apple and tuna fish sandwich. You didn't happen to see the name on the bag you stole from today did you?"

"Shh shh…" Kiba raised a finger to his mouth and switched on the radio. As a commercial ended, Dionne Warwick's "That's what friends are for" started playing. "I came back from a long and tiring road trip, I haven't had time to buy groceries yet. You know how grateful I am to you for your friendship Shino." Standing up, Kiba went over to Shino to give him a hug Shino did not return. "You're the best partner I could ask for."

Barely batting his eyelashes Shino's head crooked to leer at the radio. "One of these days I'll figure out how you manage to summon just the right song on the radio to keep me from beating your smug a-"

"Ah chief, how are you?" Kiba as Sgt. Nara came in the office.

"Please stop calling me chief, Inuzuka." Nara was a solid officer, but he had even less of a sense of humor on the job than Shino did. "I've got a new case for you two to check out," holding out a folder he hesitated a moment before extending it, "But first you've got to give me the paperwork from your last case."

"What's the combination on your locker again? 17-29-6 was it?" Kiba tossed a memento from his visit to Shikamaru's locker to his superior, a brass wings lapel pin. Nara caught it, rolled his eyes, and handed Shino the file before leaving the office to change the combination of his locker again, but not before Kiba could get in a last word, "One of these days you're going to have to share the story of that pin with us."

Already half-way through the folder, Shino began muttering to himself, "This is sloppy work for any killer." Getting Kiba's attention, Shino put the folder on the table and began to spread out the pages. "In the past four days there have been three people found dead from the Coconut Groves neighborhood. Nothing that really connects them except for they all were found to have overdosed on a very specific blend of heroin and cocaine."

"Hot Doses? Most druggies know enough to not make that mix. We've got anything to go on?" Kiba finished chewing on the apple core and threw it into the trash.

"Not much; their addresses show they all lived close to each other. One had a record, spouse abuse, separated from his wife. Second was a student on break from the University. Third was a known bodybuilder, apparently famous in the local scene, along with the hot dose there were traces of steroids in his system."

"Where do you want to start?" Kiba got up to grab his coat.

"Well first I want to be able to eat what's left of my lunch, and then we're going down to the Medical Examiner's Office. Note here says to meet up with Dr. Haruno before going downtown, apparently she was in the middle of an investigation when this file was made."

"Alright, I'll see you in the Red Fang." Shino hardly raised an eyebrow at the comment meant to provoke some reaction. "Come on man, not even a smile? Ladies love a man who smiles."

"I suppose with your looks you need all the help you can get." Perhaps it was Shino's cool demeanor that contributed to his ability to burn anyone is the coldest way possible.

The drive down to the Medical Office was easy enough, the day was a little humid but the air was just the right temperature. In the distance was the Stadium and Kiba tried not to look at it.

"You do know the game was two years ago and even then it was held in California. And you're still mad about the stupid Dolphins losing to the 49ers so much you can't even look at the stadium?"

"We all have things we bury deep inside our hearts, mine just happens to be a giant sports arena."

"Just drive."

Getting to the office, they checked in and found their way to Dr. Haruno's office. Sakura was a good sort, smarter than anyone had the right to be, with a better tan than someone who spends most of their time inside hospitals should have. Of course she wasn't in her office, so after a few questions they found her in one of the examination rooms hunched over a very large corpse that was most likely the bodybuilder from their case.

"You two should know by now that this," Sakura didn't look at them but instead made a gesture with her free hand, "this is my office. Don't bother to look for me in that file closet with a desk I sometimes take my coffee break in."

"What do you have for us Sakura?" Shino wasted no time; or rather he wanted to cut to the chase before Kiba had the chance to waste time.

"Right." Taking a step back, she took off her gloves and stepped to the side of the body. "I can't say I know exactly what connects our victims, but I have found something very peculiar. They all have these needle holes pokes into their right sides. If it was just one it would be barely noticeable, but each one has at least three holes."

"A new style of injection?" Kiba suggested.

"Decent guess, but no." Sakura picked up some pictures from a table behind her. "These are pictures from the other two bodies; I was just about to perform the same check on this one when you got here but I'm confident it's the same. Someone was performing biopsies on the livers of these three while they were still alive."

"Is there a clinic in the area that has those records?" Shino asked.

"I already made calls, there's no clinic in the area that performed tests on any of these three. Whoever is doing these tests is doing them under the radar."

Thumbing through the case file again was more of a nervous tick than anything else. His mother and sister were both certified veterinarians, but anything medical had a way of making Kiba uncomfortable. The three victims had nothing in common: a divorced salesman, a bodybuilder, and a university student… then he read it - Miller School of Medicine, University of Konoha. Handing the file to Shino, he explained, "I think we have a lead on those biopsies, one of them was a medical student."


	3. Case 1 - Another Day in Paradise

Shino brought his hand to his chin and paced the examination room. He was clearly in one of his "mile a minute" inner monologues and would soon have a hundred questions. Giving a side glance to Dr. Haruno, he nodded and finally faced Kiba. "We could go to the university to check on contacts there, but first we have to get down to Coconut Grove and check out her apartment. Who came to confirm the body?"

"Record says a classmate named Moegi came to confirm the body. Apparently they lived nearby, few blocks away from each other." Kiba double checked the address on the form and allowed himself a smug smile at the feeling of knowing all the answers.

"Chances that there's more than a little coincidence that she's the one who confirmed the body?"

"More than zero. As for the drugs, I think we have to pay a few visits to old friends in the area."

"Kiba, get the car started, I have a few more things to check on here." Shino pulled out his notepad and pen as Kiba turned to the door to leave. He thought about the traffic routes downtown at this time of day, the people they needed to see, anything to distract him until Shino came out of the station, who was looking even stiffer than usual. By the time they were finally out on the road, Kiba felt the need to ask.

"How you figuring this case so far?"

"Are you asking me for my opinion, or are you wanting a free lesson in police work?"

"Don't be a dick Shino, we're going into a situation where three people have already died. Going into something like this without any forethought is just dumb. What do you figure?"

"All right. The Hot Doses are too specific for this to be accidental, not to mention the number of victims makes for quite the Modus Operandi. My gut tells me we're in a bit of a time crunch though. Witness disposal seems the most likely motive for the deaths, so you had best stop listening to me and focus on driving faster."

"Fair enough, but next time you complain about nobody listening to you I'm going to remind you that you just told me not to listen to you." Kiba was sure that the look Shino was giving could punch through steel, but he was too focused on the road. After shifting gears and changing lanes, Kiba turned on the radio and smiled at hearing that shrill tone that marked the start of "Cars" by Gary Numan. Shaking his head, he accelerated down the road hoping for green lights all the way.

Coconut Grove was the oldest neighborhood in Konoha, one of the oldest in the country actually, but it had seen better days. It had beautiful beaches, but the boardwalks were in disrepair. The days of Afro-Cuban bars in the 50s gave way to the counter-culture drug centers of the 60s, and twenty years later the only things that have changed were the drugs used by the people who lived here. There were plenty of nice areas, but all too often Kiba found himself and Shino working the Grove on some small time case.

"The girl's apartment or her friend's place?" Kiba asked two blocks before he needed to make a turn.

"Moegi. I got the keys to the victim's apartment from the Sergeant, but I want to get a feel for the situation from her friend."

Sticking to the main road, Kiba pulled into the apartments and immediately got a weird vibe. Something definitely smelled wrong, and it wasn't just the ambient smell of marijuana and gasoline. "Apartment number?" Kiba was already eyeing the apartments on the second floor.

"112." Shino tapped Kiba's shoulder and pointed to a residence on the ground floor. "Odd for an apartment to have the window closed and blinds pulled on such a nice day." Shino approached the door whileKiba took a glance at the car parked in front of it. Medical books, a lab coat, cassette tapes and candy bar wrappers littered the car's interior. Shino knocked lightly on the door and announced himself. For a moment Kibadebated going up to the door, but his instinct took over and his hand went to his pocket for his car keys. Shinochanged position to the window and pressed his ear against the glass. "Someone opened the rear veranda." A step ahead of Shino, Kiba jumped over the hood of the Red Fang to get to the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as he could as Shino pulled out his gun to break the window and enter the apartment.

The next few seconds were crucial; finding the person fleeing the scene would be hard if there was a crowd of people, and harder still if the person had the sense to hide. Thankfully most criminals have little sense, particularly when in a panic. The bright red shit and gray jeans were a dead give-away, but it was the facial scars that were the key feature. Shigure was a key player in the Coconut Grove drug trade, but he'd been lying low the past six months. Cutting a corner, Kiba tried to cut Shigure off, but he managed to duck out the way and run to a waiting motor bike.

Chasing down a motorbike was nothing Kiba wanted to do at the moment. With a rapid brake, Kiba threwthe gear into reverse and hit the throttle as he looked over his shoulder. Honking his horn as he crossed the intersection, two cars narrowly avoided hitting him. Shigure had just managed to get on his bike and start revving the engine when the Red Fang's rear bumper made impact. Pulling the emergency brake, Kiba walked out of the car and took off his sunglasses. Shigure was lying on the ground in pain, but Kiba knelt next to the rear of his car to inspect the damage. Bumper was a mess, but the paint and metal work all looked fine.

Handcuffing Shigure's hands behind him, Kiba got out the protective seat cover from the trunk and put it over the passenger's seat before tossing the scum in his car and driving back to the apartment. Shino had the door open and was leaning over a young woman on the ground. His jacket was off and placed under the girl's head, his sleeves rolled up, revealing the tattoos he always kept hidden on his forearms. On the ground beside him was a vial and a few needles. "Get me some ice and a towel and then call for an ambulance." Shino's tone of voice was firm and low as he examined the girl's forearm. "I assume from the screams of pain out there that you got him."

Half listening to Shino and complying to his partner's requests, he said, "Yeah, from the way he was screaming and squirming I'm pretty sure I broke his leg."

"Deserves worse," Shino coldly said as he began to measure liquid from the vial into one of the syringes, "she is going into shock from a Hot Dose. Her heart can't handle the combination of the upper cocaine and the downer heroin." Kiba already knew what was happening, but did not know exactly what Shino was attempting here. Very carefully, Shino gave the injection, then took the ice from Kiba and placed it under her head before checking her pulse. "Before leaving the medical examiner's office, Dr. Haruno suggested I take some Naloxonewith me, I'm not sure about Hot Doses but it can counter the heroin in her system. The ice will help lower her body temperature, hopefully bringing her some stability. It's our best shot."

Kiba made the call for the ambulance before going outside to ask Shigure a few questions. Opening his car door, he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him from the car onto the parking lot pavement. Nodding to the man's broken leg, Kiba inferred, "That must hurt."

"Of course it hurts you dumbass, you broke my le-" Kiba cut him off by raising his foot above Shigure's femur.

"I'm going to ask you a question, answer correctly and it will make ever other question I ask you easier, refuse to answer and… well it will just complicate things for both of us. Now, how much did you give her?"

Shino came out a few minutes later, his sleeves buttoned back up and a relieved look on his face as the ambulance sirens sounded in the distance. Kiba gave the information to the paramedics when they picked upMoegi and put her in the back after Shino gave them the dose information he had given her. Dragging Shigureinside the apartment when the medics had left, Kiba took off the handcuffs as Shino put his jacket back on.

"We've got a few questions for you before we bring you into the station." Shino walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver to call for another car. "It's a funny little thing about Miranda rights; they don't have to be read until you are actually arrested. And I think there are some things you would like to willingly share with us before we get to that part."

"Screw you cops." Shigure rubbed his wrists and winced at his leg.

"So here's the situation as I see it. A drug dealer murders three people, and attempts to murder a fourth. I'm sure a normal investigation would turn up all sorts of interesting facts, but you see I've got this itch on my nose; and when I've got this itch on my nose it tells me that I'm not dealing with a normal investigation. The girl you just tried to murder was at the station yesterday to identify the body of a girl murdered the day before. It's too soon to be random, and too close to a current investigation to be coincidence."

"I ain't talking to you anymore. I'll wait for the other cops."

"Don't you think it's interesting?" Shino questioned, his hand still on the phone. "The ambulance arrives to take Moegi to the hospital, but there's no ambulance for you and your broken leg?" Shino unplugged the receiver from the phone chord and tapped it in his hands as he got up and walked over to Shigure. Without turning his head, he instructed, "Kiba, the television please."

Kiba complied with his partner and turned the television on and turned the volume up before closing the door. The scum was starting to sweat from Shino's threat. "You cops gotta be crazy. You can't do this."

"Crazy?" Shino responded quizzically. "No, crazy would be me talking into this hand receiver with someone who isn't there or doing something completely irrational. But there's nothing irrational about any of this. Your actions show premeditation, but they aren't your own? Who's paying you?"

"The way I see it," Kiba interjected, "You're looking at three charges of murder one, and an attempted. In our great state that's the same as a murder charge, that's four life sentences, and most likely the death penalty."

"Hold on, you can't pin those on me."

"Oh we can't?" Shino knelt next to Shigure and tossed him the receiver, "And why is that?" Kiba moved from the door to sit on the bed, sitting above where Shigure was lying on the ground. It was clear he was starting to crack, Kiba debated giving another push but Shino's presence seemed to be doing the trick; with a countenance like some avenging angel, and not the merciful kind. Shigure's lips and jaw were starting to quiver, clear signs of a breakdown. Kiba got out his notepad and got ready to write.

"All right, I supplied the drugs, but this is the only time I've been the man with the needle. Every other time it was the man with the money."

"Who?" Shino questioned as he began to stand up.

"I don't know." The wild look in his eyes were fearful, but truthful.

"What did he look like?" Smoothing out the wrinkles on his jacket, Shino reached into his pocket and pulled out a tie before putting it back in his pocket.

"Glasses, curly hair, a-a-nd a Freddie Mercury mustache."

"And where can we find Mr. Mercury?" Kiba cracked his knuckles as he bent down to grab the receiver fromShigure to plug it back into the phone.

"He said he had something to get from the girl's apartment."

"Police have that place locked down." Shino frowned before turning off the television and nodding to Kiba. Opening the door, Kiba let in the police who were waiting outside. "Book him for resisting arrest for now; we'll worry about the rest if we find the other guy. Ready partner?"

Flipping his keys in his hand, Kiba smiled and hurried out to the car to catch up with Shino and gave himself another silent reminder to never really make Shino angry. A tease now and then was fine, but in all honesty the only two people on earth who scared him were his mother and his partner.


	4. Case 1 - Steppin' Out

Shino gave instructions to the officers on scene while Kiba got the engine started; then it was a three block drive to the crime scene. Investigators had done a standard sweep of the apartment after the murder, but nothing in-depth. Most of the victim's possessions would still be in place at this point. Crime tape covered the door, but there wasn't so much as a police detail left on site. Parking the car across the street, Kiba put up the convertible's top and leaned against the hood to wait for Shino to get out.

"Planning on starting a stakeout?" Shino asked.

"Actually," Looking up to the late afternoon sky, Kiba bit his lip and chuckled, "I was thinking about grabbing a bite to eat from that French place on Grove Avenue."

"Latours?" Shino sighed. "Isn't that the place that's kicked you out five times already?"

"Six times. First time was when I was with my mother when she was told to leave. It's become a family tradition to be ejected from that institution now."

Opening the door, Shino got out of the car and removed the seat cover from where he was sitting. Having forgotten to remove it after Shigure was in there; Kiba went to the trunk and let Shino put it inside. "If you're hungry, go down to the club on the corner and get some sandwiches. You owe me one anyways."

"The usual?" Not waiting for an answer, Kiba started walking towards the beach. The strip was busy with high school kids out of school and looking for a way to waste the rest of their day. On the corner some kids were playing "Footloose" on a boom box. Unable to resist, Kiba spun around and repeated a shuffle step he had seen in a club a few weeks ago. A couple of times he had practiced this had left him on the floor with Akamaru whining at him, but he pulled it off, to a cheer from the kids.

Most of the night clubs weren't open this early, but Kiba knew one where the kitchen was always open. In the alley, smoking a cigarette was one of his local contacts; Francisco was a holdover from the days of rock and roll, and was more excited than anyone should be about the upcoming Ritchie Valens movie, but he was a good short order cook and knew the area. Kiba slipped him a twenty dollar bill in a handshake that became a half-hug.

"Kiba! ¿Qué pasa?"

"Lo mismo. Dos medianoches porfa." Kiba's Spanish was not his strongpoint, but he knew enough to get by from one neighborhood to the next. Truth be told knowing the slang was as important as knowing the language in his line of work, so he made it a point to at least know that much.

"Eh, how is your partner?" Francisco led Kiba inside and started on the sandwiches.

"Good, we're working a case and I was hungry." Sitting down on an empty milk crate, Kiba took in the scents of the kitchen. It was a weeknight so it wasn't too likely to be busy, but living in Konoha meant that there was no 'off-season' for tourism.

"Bueno." Francisco was only half-listening. "Let me guess what case… it's not to bust those patas sucias por el jardín? By the Kampong."

Taking a slice of ham from the counter before it went into a sandwich, Kiba shook his head and grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge. "Not today. We're investigating a few overdoses that are probably murder."

"Drugas." Francisco stopped himself before going into a rant. When he finished pressing the sandwiches on the grill he wrapped them up and gave them to Kiba. "Tell your mother I said hi." Flashing a smile of discolored teeth, he saw Kiba to the door and waved goodbye.

"Keep asking about my mother and maybe one day I'll arrange an introduction… and one should always be careful what they wish for." Kiba took a bite out of his sandwich as he began walking back to the car. Shino was still sitting inside, so Kiba left his sandwich out on the hood of the car and waited for him to come out. He eventually did and the two sat on the car waiting for half an hour before Kiba got bored.

"Give me the key Shino." Kiba demanded. "And stop giving me that look. Those photos from the file aren't doing it for me; I need to see the apartment for myself."

Shino looked thoughtful for a moment, but then complied with Kiba. Going up to the second floor, Kiba removed the police tape and opened the door. A sticky sound came from behind him and Kiba turned to see Shino cleaning up the police tape before pulling a small roll from his pocket and reapply the tape to the front door before closing it behind them. "I was down there long enough to know that nobody was watching the apartment other than us. If we are expecting the real killer to show up, it would be best for him to think the apartment is empty when he gets here."

With a light chuckle, Kiba nodded at his partner's plan before turning his attention to the apartment. A tape outline on the carpet showed where the body was found. Fingerprints had been taken, but none were found outside of the girl's and her friend Moegi. Kiba went to the kitchen while Shino went to the bedroom. A few medical books and stray papers were all that was on the table. A white powder was on the kitchen counter, with a quick taste Kiba realized it was a sugar and cornstarch blend that was often used to cut cocaine with. The fridge was well stocked, seemingly reminding Kiba of his need to go shopping.

"In here Kiba, found something." Shino spoke quietly from the other room. Kiba knew that if they were going to wait for someone else to show up, they had best stay quiet. Taking off his shoes, Kiba went to the bedroom where Shino waited by the closet. "I heard a quiet hum in the closet and found a hidden door, likely the crime scene team didn't find it on their sweep." Opening the panel showed a mini-refrigerator.

"Hello, what have we here?" Kiba quoted Lando Calrissian, Shino clearly missed the reference. "Come on? I remember taking you to see Empire Strikes Back. Never mind, open it." Syringes, petri dishes, vials, medical slides, and all manner of equipment filled the small fridge. Most of it was new through, unused. It was part of the case, but how exactly it fit was still unclear. "Just what was she doing here?"

"Look for medical files. We can get Sakura to look them over later. If she has samples, she is sure to have some sort of data on them." After giving the apartment a thorough, and quiet, look-over, they found nothing.

"Wait…" Kiba stopped for a moment. "Shigure said mustache man was going to come back here. But if he was the killer, that means he was here before. So either he already has what we're looking for, and has no reason to come back… or…" Kiba's train of thought lost all forward momentum at that point.

"Or Shigure was lying to us, or mustache man was lying to Shigure, or he didn't have time to find what we're trying to find either. There's any number of possibilities Kiba." Taking off his shoes and socks, Shino scrunched his toes and breathed deeply. "What? This relaxes me."

Shaking his head, Kiba rubbed his neck and remembered something he had seen in one of the kitchen drawers. "Phillips head screwdriver." Getting the tool, Kiba saw that the tip had residue from white paint on the tip. A quick check of the apartment later and Kiba found a grating that had screws with paint worn off from usage. Four screws and a dusty coat sleeve later turned up nothing. "Dead end." Standing up, Shino motioned for silence as he turned off the bathroom light. The sound of tearing plastic and rustling locks came from the front door, it was too quick for a lock pick, meaning it was a key.

It was dusk by now; a hard time for the eyes to adjust is an excellent time for sneaking around. The intruder closed the door behind him and turned on a flashlight. In the darkness, Shino crouched down and stayed in the shadows while Kiba sat on the toiletseat. Hearing footsteps go into the kitchen, Shino crept through the bedroom door and out of sight.

Wanting to get the drop on the intruder, Kiba snuck out of the bathroom, drew his pistol, and waited until he saw Shino in the corner of his eye. Shino pointed two fingers at his eyes and then motioned towards the kitchen. The only light source at the moment was the man's flashlight, and it was shining towards the living room. They would be at a disadvantage in a gunfight unless they turned the lights on, but turning the lights on would alert the other person to their presence. The other uncertainty was whether he was even armed at all.

All at once the lights in the kitchen came on, and the sound of a chair scooting and someone sitting down followed. Peeking his head out, Shino holstered his gun and walked out. Sure enough it was a man with glasses and a thick mustache. His gloved hands were palm down on the table and he was calm as could be.

"I take it you are with the Konoha Police Department. You have caught me trespassing a crime scene; I surrender myself to your custody." It was clear to Kiba that was a cool customer, there was sweat on his brow, but his nervousness wasn't showing.

"How did you obtain a key to the apartment?" Shino asked. There was a certain 'knowing' look in the man's eyes, too much confidence.

"It will do no harm in telling you that I am the co-signer of the lease on this apartment, that's a fact you will find out easily enough. But please let's not waste time; I'll not answer any further questions until I have a chance to speak to my attorney."

"Call it in Shino." Kiba walked towards the table and took a seat across from the older man. "How about one question, or should we say we need a human-shaped sack of crap that needs to be hauled in to the station?"

"Fascinating dialect inflections. You grew up around here but your mother… northern Florida? You'll forgive my hobby, sociolinguistics fascinate me." With a placating gesture he reached one hand into his front shirt pocket and pulled out a card. "There you are, Doctor Manabu Akado, at your service."

Everything about this guy was ticking Kiba off. Way too casual, and way too confident. Card looked legit, University of Konoha, School of Medicine, the whole thing. There were about a dozen questions Kiba wanted to ask, and Shino probably had thirty more to add on top of that, but Kiba got the feeling that the more he heard from this guy, the more it would make him want to punch him in the mouth.

"Squad car will be here in five." Shino lowered the phone and took the card from Kiba.

"Read him his rights Shino." Walking outside, Kiba reached for his pocket and grabbed his lighter. From his inside pocket he pulled out his cigarette case only to find it empty again. With a laugh he closed it and put it back before saying, "Another point to you Hinata." Turning his head he saw Shino bring Akado out of the apartment, "Now let's see how you deal with him."


	5. Case 1 - Moral Kiosk

"You're going to be late to work if you sleep in again." Adjusting the towel wrapped around her hair, Hinata gave another knock on Sakura's door before going to the kitchen. An audible swear, rustled sheets, and heavy footsteps came from behind the closed door as Hinata moved away from the door and made sure Sakura's path to the bathroom was clear. Making her way to her vanity set, Hinata took off the towel and began styling her hair for the day. After dressing, she cut up a grapefruit and heated up two cinnamon rolls in the microwave oven. Sakura came out of the shower with hair still damp and began eating in a rush.

"For how late Dr. Sasori keeps you working, I'm surprised that he expects you to come in early so regularly." Hinata smiled at her friend and finished her fruit before eying her sweet roll.

"And for being an Assistant District Attorney, I'm surprised Mr. A gives you cases of your own." Dabbing a napkin to her mouth, Sakura cleaned her plate in the sink before realizing she was still only half-dressed.

"You do realize how big Konoha-Dade County is. The only way to get everything done is to divide up all the work. Especially in this line of work, even people with 'Assistant' in their title have their own staff working for them." Of course the unspoken reality was that her own assistant was a sickly, spectacled intern named Udon.

"Well you're the lucky one then. Down at the Coroner's Officer, I get the impression that I'm the only one working sometimes. But Dr. Sasori always checks the time sheets, and," looking up at the clock as she zipped up her skirt, "I'm late."

"Hold it." Stopping Sakura before she ran out, Hinata grabbed the nametag she forgot on the counter, took hold of Sakura by her coat and clipped it in place. "You going to be in for dinner tonight?"

"I'll give you a call." With a wink, Sakura turned to leave before turning around to grab her keys as the last thing she missed.

"Still flustered from your mystery date last night." Hinata quipped to the closed door before she went to get her bag together. Getting into her Porsche 911 she dialed up her office to check her messages as she drove to court. The streets were clear for nine in the morning on a Monday, as clear as the skies. Tears For Fears "Everybody wants to rule the world" was on the radio as her call was connected and the dial tone started ringing.

"You've reached the office of ADA Hinata Hyuuga, she's not in right now, can I take a message?" Udon was improving at his ability to take a message, not nearly as awkward as when he started.

"You sound well today Udon, stuffy nose cleared up?"

"Ah, Ms. Hinata. Yes, thank you."

"Any messages today?"

"Mr. A's office called to say he's going to be busy with a case down in Palmetto Bay. There was also a message from Mr. Asuma Sarutobi wanting your legal opinion on property he's planning on buying. And the last message is from the Board of Governors wanting to talk to you after the arraignment today."

"Call back his office and set up a time for this afternoon. See if we can meet in Mr. A's office at the court house, if not have it back at the record's office. Is that all Udon?"

"Umm… well there was one more call from Officer Inuzuka…"

"Hana Inuzuka or Kiba Inuzuka?" Hinata was expecting calls from both, so she felt the need to ask for clarification.

"Kiba. He gave an odd message saying you have his permission to kick Mr. Akado in the shin if he gets on your nerves."

"Give me a call at the office at 10:30 after you schedule that Udon. Bye." Hanging up the phone, Hinata finished her drive to the court house. Kiba and Shino had made the collar and arrested Akado two days ago. First arraignments were always rough because they had to be done within 48 hours of the arrest.

In her office, Hinata reviewed the file again. It was going to be a hard case. Three counts of first degree murder, and one attempted murder against Akado. Two witnesses; one a drug dealer, the other a girl in a coma. Distribution of controlled substances; cocaine and heroin. Initial crime scenes did not turn up much in the way of evidence. But there was going to be quite a bit of time between now and whenever the trial would be set, enough time for discovery to find something solid.

Going in to the court room, Hinata felt outnumbered. For a first arraignment there should not have been this many people. Setting up her files and sitting down, she finally got a good look at all the faces over on the defendant's side. There were a few she recognized from a conference as being attorney's from the University ofKonoha, they were standing around two men sitting down. One was Akado, the other had dark hair too wild to belong in any court, and a suit as black as his eyes. Sasuke Uchiha, junior partner of Uchiha, Kapner, and Uchiha, though Kapner hadn't done much in the past few years.

Before any unpleasantries could be exchanged the Bailiff announced the arrival of Judge Tsunade Senju. The court clerk then handed the case document to Judge Senju, who began the procedure immediately. "Case number 0087-099-A, State of Florida v. Manabu Akado. Will counsel please note their appearance for the record."

"Good morning, Hinata Hyuuga representing State of Florida, your honor."

"Uchiha Sasuke representing Manabu Akado, with Mr. Green and Mr. Dan representing the interests of the University of Konoha, Mr. Akado's employer." Sasuke got glares from introducing the other two, apparently they each wanted their turn in the court but he silenced them with his eyes. Always doing his best to be imposing, that one.

"Very well." Judge Senju looked over the papers, dropped them on her desk, and sat back in her chair. "Seeing as how Mr. Akado is being represented by three attorneys, it is clear he is informed of his rights, but to make sure we don't overlook any formality, can we say that he is aware of his right to counsel in this matter?" It was clear she was in one of her cheeky moods today.

"Yes, your Honor." Mr. Green was too happy to finally get a word in.

"Good and is he aware of the charges against him? Four counts of First-Degree Murder, with another charge of distribution of controlled substances."

"He is aware, your Honor."

"All right. Now as this is the first arraignment, he doesn't have to enter a plea. We have finished the formalities, so now we can begin the real part of this hearing, which is to decide on the request for bail."

Hinata and Sasuke stood up in unison, but Sasuke sat back down. "Your honor, given the nature of the crimes the defendant is charged with, I would ask that you deny the request for bail made by the defense."

"And what does the defense have to say?"

Staying in his seat, Sasuke waved to Mr. Dan. "Your honor, we make no statement regarding the charges made against our client at this time, but the interests of the University are pressing at this time. You understand we are a medical research school, and we are informed that Dr Akado was in the middle of a very important experiment. We ask that he be released on bail, with special exemption that he be allowed to complete his work."

"Any objections to that, Ms. Hyuuga?"

"Yes, as police are still conducting an investigation at the lab they claim they want Mr. Akado to return to."

"Materials can be moved from the lab as needed after inspected by the police." Sasuke said before whispering something into Akado's ear.

"Placing undue burden on police in the middle of an investigation." Hinata countered.

"Agreed." Tsunade nodded, "However, the University has made known the nature of his study to me." Lifting a document, she handed it to the clerk, who passed it to Hinata. "A burden for a burden then. Bail is granted for $1.5 million." Halfway through scanning the document and Hinata got the impression this was less about medical research and more about political pressure. Liver toxicity studies did not seem like the most pressing medical emergency, and combined with the fact that liver samples were somehow connected to the three deceased victims made her uneasy.

"Your honor, we request an expedited discovery process for this case," Sasuke's smooth tone seemed to put the two senior attorneys working with him on edge, "We understand that there is a second suspect in custody in relation to these crimes and initial findings show that my client has only peripheral connection to this case. We'd rather not waste the court's time by drawing this out."

It was a bold play and not one usually requested at that. Capital crimes like murder often have very long and costly discovery processes. Tsunade might have agreed to the bail, but there was no chance she'd agree to a short discovery for this. Sure enough, she was shaking her head. "Request denied. We'll reconvene for the second arraignment in fourteen days." Tsunade banged her gavel on the desk, and that was that.

Hinata picked up her folders and got up to go to her office. Sasuke was at her side and held open the bar door to let her pass. Giving him a questioning look, she stood back and teased him, "Now Sasuke, I'm not the one in a hurry. Not to leave and not with this trial. So why are you?"

Doing his best to look cool, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair and messed up the gel he had keeping his wild locks in place. "I just like getting to the action. All this waiting and sitting around makes me bored."

"So you like to skip to the action? Shame, I find a slow buildup in anticipation gives the most satisfying experience." Raising her eyebrow at him, she walked out of the courtroom and went to her office upstairs. Thankfully the timing was just right and the phone started ringing as she got in.

"Ms. Hyuuga, Board of Governors asked if you could meet with them at the College instead of them meeting you at the court house." That sort of news made Hinata curl her mouth. They wanted to meet her at the seat of their power, not in hers.

"Fair enough. Anything else? Any news on the investigation?"

"Yes, Officer Aburame asked when a good time to meet with you would be."

"Shino… tell him I'm working late at the office. We'll meet at the usual spot at eight." Letting down her hair, Hinata hung up the phone and stretched out. She had to start scheduling depositions, evidence from the crime scene, check on Moegi's condition, interview Shigure and the public defender assigned to him, not to mention go down to the college to meet with a group of administrators who cared more about reputation than integrity, let alone education. And that was all just related to one case of three she had to deal with today.

Sitting down at her desk, she picked up the picture frame of her parents and smiled. Placing it back down, she opened a drawer where she kept a radio hidden away and turned it on. Drums and a killer bass-line got her gently nodding her head side to side as she gently started singing along, "Oh, my little pretty one, pretty one. When you gonna give me some time Sharona." Flipping a pen in her hand, she opened a folder and got to work.


	6. Case 1 - Let's Go Crazy

"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today  
To get through this thing called life  
Electric word life it means forever and that's a mighty long time  
But I'm here to tell you there's something else  
The afterworld, a world of never ending happiness  
You can always see the sun, day or night

"So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills  
You know the one Dr. 'Everything'll Be Alright'  
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left?  
Ask him how much of your mind, baby  
'Cause in this life things are much harder than in the afterworld  
This life you're on your own

"And if the elevator tries to bring you down  
Go crazy punch a higher floor…"

Something about the Purple Rain album always helped Hinata wrap up her day strong. It was just after five and the law offices were mostly empty, which gave her a moment to slip off her shoes and dance along for a minute or two to stretch and wake herself back up after a long day of meetings and legal briefs.

Her phone started ringing, which prompted her to pause her cassette and answer. "This is Hinata Hyuuga, may I ask who is calling?"

"Glad I caught you before you left," the deep, mature voice was obviously Mr. A, "how is the case with the college professor coming along?"

"We've got two weeks until the second arraignment, but after meeting with the school's board of governors I'm got the impression they're going to give us the stonewall treatment."

"Let me guess, they'd rather we just prosecute the dealer and drop charges against the professor?"

"I'm sure that's what they implied, but they made it clear that they would use the resources of the college and teacher's union to protect Dr. Akado. Honestly it was a waste of 30 minutes of my time."

"The only people who can say less in more words than attorneys are educators." Mr. A's laughs were uncommon, but infectious. "Keep at it Hinata, I'll have Mabui take charge of the dealer's case, you focus on the professor. I've got a few more days out of town, you need anything give Darui a call."

Hanging up, Hinata started putting away files and waved at the custodian as she put on her shoes and grabbed her jacket. She tried not to think about cases when away from work, but sometimes they required more thought than could be given in the confides of an office. Getting to her car, she drove out of the parking lot and got stuck in downtown traffic. Not bothering to change her facial expression to match her inner frustration, she found the first side street exit and took the backstreets to her destination. Kids were outside playing after school, but fewer were out on the streets than a few years ago ever since the release of the NES. "To think Sakura wants one of those for the apartment."

The sun was low in the west by the time she arrived at Royal Burgers. The parking lot was full, but that gave her no trouble identifying Shino's green '74 Challenger, affectionately named "the bug". Sure it looked nothing like a bug, but every car Shino owned was christened that by Kiba in honor of Shino's first car, a '66 VW Beetle.

With a wave as she parked, Shino got out of his car and went to open the door for her, as was the custom. Then it was an order of sliders and birch beer with a side of honeybuns for Hinata, Shino opted for grits and home fries with a bowl of fruit.

While waiting for the order, Shino sipped on his water and commented, "I invited Kiba to come along, as usual, and he refused again."

"One of these days I'm sure we'll find out why he never joins us." As Shino tapped his fingers on the table, Hinata turned her head to smile at a shy boy sitting at the next table over.

"It's never sat well with me though, ever since High School it was Wednesday Sliders at Royals. Sometimes Kiba doesn't make sense to me."

"Of all the weird things Kiba does, you pick 'he doesn't get burgers with us on Wednesdays anymore' as the top example?"

"Fair enough." With a chuckle, Shino adjusted his sunglasses as the cashier called out their order. He was up and back in a moment before setting their food down. "Maybe it's the neighborhood? This certainly isn't the nicest part of town anymore."

"Maybe… but of the three of us that seems more like your excuse for not keeping up a tradition." Adding mustard to her sliders, she ate one and took a drink of the birch beer. Talk about Kiba was a nice distraction; the truth was that more often than not Shino liked to coordinate his work with hers at these meals. As professional as Shino looked, he actually liked to do things off-the-cuff.

"How did the arraignment go today?"

"Dr. Akado is out on bail. Doubtless he's already at the University getting his back patted by all his peers."

"There's not a doubt in my mind that he did it, but the evidence at the crime scenes is scant. The only connection is the mix of drugs given and the liver biopsies taken. No fingerprints, no forensic evidence, nothing."

"What about the lease on Mina's apartment?" Mina was the third victim, the college student who was supposedly taking a semester off of medical school.

"Sure enough, Akado was paying for it. We didn't get much from the landlord, just that her behavior only started seeming strange the past two weeks or so. Akado would show up once a week to see her and leave the same day."

"Anything else there?"

"Nothing we can prove yet. Mina's apartment only had some drugs, her clothes, and medical equipment – the lab is looking into that but everything in there was sealed, doubt there's going to be anything on those."

"And the other two victims?"

"Matt Jones and Russell Gomez. Matt was regularly getting cocaine from Shigure, but his separated wife swears he was starting to get clean. He was actually being considered for a job as a salesman at a used car lot when he was killed. Gomez was in the bodybuilding scene, known to use steroids from time to time, working towards a modeling contract. There were no witnesses for Jones, but we asked around the gym and a couple of trainers say the Gomez was meeting with a doctor for outside treatments."

"A doctor?" Hinata sounded hopeful but Shino shook his head.

"When given a photo, none of them identified Akado, instead they recognized Mina. She must have been posing as the doctor." With a shake, Shino's hand went to his waist to grab his pager. "Mind if I use your car phone?" Rather than continue to eat, Hinata pulled out her notepad and wrote a few notes.

It would be hard to build a case towards 'beyond a reasonable doubt' if they didn't find evidence that connected Akado to the tissue samples. What worried Hinata more was that if they didn't get anything substantial by the second arraignment, the case might not even make it to trial.

Shino came back upset, even to the point where he was drinking out of the wrong glass on the table. "Kiba took it upon himself to follow Akado. But that red car of his stands out like a sore thumb, Akado led him on a merry drive along the beach before going on a shopping trip and then to his house. And in the last few seconds he decides to tell me that the chief has had some resistance to getting the search warrant for the University's labs.

"What's the condition of the girl? Moegi?"

"It's only been two days, but it's still in the air." With a sigh, Shino finished his grits and picked at his fries. "The dose Shigure gave her put her into shock, we brought her down but her body chemistry will take a while to return to normal. Until then it's a waiting game. What are we missing Hinata?" The concern was clear on Shino's face, some said he rarely showed emotions but they were there, just less pronounced, more subtle.

"Records, information, documents. As much physical evidence would be great, it's safe to assume that Akado will have had those samples destroyed by now. But Mina would have kept records as well, and the fact that they started killing means that loose ends were already recognized and being eliminated. At some point Mina became a loose end too. It's Moegi's involvement that we have no clue about. Was she just a friend, or was she a part of it?"

"No, her apartment was clean. And unlike Mina she didn't have any signs of biopsies taken from her."

"Focus on the girls. Back off from Akado for a few days. With any luck Moegi will wake up and we'll have a new source of information… and make sure there's a police guard at her room." Getting tired of being in 'business mode', Hinata loosened her tie and finished her sliders.

"How's Hanabi doing at college?" Finishing his order, Shino was done with work for the day as well.

"She says she likes Virginia, but still can't understand how it can be freezing up there and sunny and warm down here. Otherwise she mentions that it's nice to be out of the W&M dorms and into dad's weekend house up there."

"And that double degree she's working towards? Colonial History and Law?"

"We all know she'll get whatever degree she has her mind on. The problem is whether she'll get to experience all the other things college has to offer. It's one thing to skip two years of high school, but sometimes I wonder if she pushes herself too hard and doesn't take some time for herself."

"You come from a driven family that can't help but be in the public eye. I wonder how much of what she is doing is advised from your father, to try to keep her out of the tabloids."

"William & Mary was Hanabi's choice. Dad wanted her to go to Yale or Columbia. Senator Hyuuga might be one of the biggest names in Washington, but Papa Hiashi is nothing more than a teddy bear with a grumpy face to his daughters." That got the two of them laughing; it was good to break a little of the tension hanging over them.

Parting with a hug, Hinata got in her car and started back to her apartment. A department store caught her eye as she felt a pleasant thought come to her. A few purchases and a complimentary gift wrapping later and she was back on her way home.

It was just after seven when Hinata finally came in, Sakura was in the living room watching Jeopardy and eating powdered donut holes. Somehow she managed to hide the box from Sakura's point of view and make it to the bedroom to change out of her dress suit. After everything she had to deal with today, she felt like she needed another shower, but decided the soft couch and some donuts sounded even better, so she put on a shirt and sweatpants and sat down next to Sakura.

"Its 4 historic provinces are Connaught, Leinster, Munster & Ulster" Alex Trebek gave the answer.

"What is Ireland?" Sakura said before the contestant and popped another donut.

"West Indian island that's the home of the limbo dance & calypso music." The next question came.

"What is Trinidad?" Sakura adjusted her position on the couch to let Hinata lie against her.

"Largest of the Mariana Islands, we acquired it in 1898."

"What is Guam?" Sakura laughed and turned down the volume, "Nancy has this game in the bag. And speaking of bag…" Noticing the last of the donut holes were gone, Sakura raised her eyebrows and have Hinata a look. "I'm setting my alarm for 5:30 a.m. Not only am I tired of being late to work, but we're getting up for an early morning jog."

"Fine, whatever." Hinata was going to sit up, but Sakura starting giving her a head rub, which prevented her from doing so. "Mmm, that's nice."

"What was in the box you brought in?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Who did you go on a date with last night?" Hinata mirrored Sakura's tone.

"We decided to keep it secret for now." There was more than a light blush to Sakura's cheeks.

"Fine. Then I'll keep the box secret for now too." Getting up, Hinata threw the empty bag away and poured herself a glass of water. All the secrets she was privy to in the line of her work, and somehow she knew the one that was going to give her the most trouble was a gift she had tucked away in her own closet. It was nice that she and Sakura were able to be so casual with each other, given how stressful their jobs were, made worse the times their work overlapped. But for now, as difficult as things got, being with a friend always made them seem easier to deal with.


	7. Case 1 - Voices Carry

The phone call at 3 a.m. had left Kiba in something of a panic, but then again who can stay calm when they had just been yelled at by their older sister? Hana told him to get out of bed and down to the hospital asap. Growing up on a Marine base had left her with a few idiosyncrasies that Kiba had missed out on.

Buttoning up his shirt as he walked in, Kiba passed the elderly receptionist with a wink and made his way upstairs to Moegi's room. Security began to approach him, but a flash of his badge got him a wave and an open door to the critical condition wing.

"Room 302," Kiba reminded himself as he walked the halls before arriving at the open door, "All right Hana what's the emergency…?"

Hana was sitting in the visitor's chair, completely composed and in control. The man on the floor was bruised, bloody, and chained to the underside of the sink in the bathroom.

"I figured it would be best to give you a call before the rest of the force," Pulling a Rubix Cube from her pocket, she began to toy with it, "I also called Shino, he's doing a background check on this guy's ID. Seriously though, what kind of idiot brings their actual ID along when they're trying to kill somebody?" She nodded in the direction of the man in the bathroom and rolled her eyes.

"With the white coat, he looks the part. How'd you figure?"

"He smelled wrong. That and his name wasn't on the list the hospital staff gave me so I twisted his arm and took the vial he was planning on injecting into the girl's iv." From the look of the kid, Hana did more than just twist his arm, a shattered mirror in the bathroom and a knocked over cabinet told the rest of the story.

"Was he lucky enough to even get in a shot at you?" Kiba jested.

"They all try sport, they all try." Putting down the solved cube, Hana stood up and made her way to the door. "I'll leave him to you. I'm going down to the cafeteria. You want anything?"

"Glass of milk and Salisbury steak if they have it." Rolling up his sleeves, Kiba went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet next to the suspect. Opening his cigarette case, and remembering it was empty, he offered one to the man on the floor. "Smoke?"

"Sure, why not?" Apparently the man's head was just starting to clear, from the lump on his head, Kibawas surprised he didn't have a concussion.

"Too bad, I'm fresh out." With a loud snap, he shut his case and put it back in his pocket. "Did my sister read you your rights already?" The man shook his head and Kiba sighed. He never liked being the one to give Miranda Rights. Police liked to talk about the pursuit of justice, but so many things slowed down the chase.

"What's the punishment for attempted murder?" The man was clearly nervous and a bit shaken up.

"Oh that crime is mostly treated exactly the same as regular murder." Keeping his tone of voice level, Kiba knew he couldn't match Shino's psychological game, but he has his own, casual style for dealing with people. "But we've been known to cut deals for people who know how to deal." Reaching over to the vial on the counter, Kiba picked it up and took a closer look at the label. "Potassium Chloride… this is what they use in lethal injections right?"

He was starting to show a hesitancy to speak, but something told Kiba it was less out of nervousness and more out of shame. "This girl has had a rough week. First her friend is killed with a lethal injection, then she is given a dose too, and now someone comes to the hospital to finish her off. You don't have to give me the 'why' I can read it in your face. Even if Hana wasn't here you weren't going to go through with it." Something about the kid started to wake up, a small light of hope, but it was enough to get him back into the conversation from the dark place his thoughts had wandered to.

"I knew them, both of them from school. We were all in the pre-med program at Konoha University." The confession started slowly as he fought back tears.

"What's your name?" Kiba asked as he took out his keys and took off the kid's handcuffs.

"Tanzo." Rubbing his wrists he adjusted his position and sat against the opposite wall.

"Who sent you down here Tanzo?"

"Professor Akado." Hiding his shock that the interrogation got to this point so quickly, Kiba got up from the toilet and sat down next to Tanzo.

"You look like a good kid; I'm not going to make any judgments about you. Likely the Professor made you some promises, guarantees if you went through with this. Do you know what this is all about?"

Tanzo shook his head and grabbed his legs; he seemed more confused than anything else. "ProfessorAkado is working on a big Hepatotoxicity study, chemical damage to livers. He's working with hundreds of liver samples from around the country. There's funding from a major pharmaceutical firm and even government grants for what he's working on."

"What was he like before the study?" Good men don't suddenly turn bad because they get a big influx of resources. More likely Akado was a scumbag before.

"He was always a bit of a womanizer. It's known that he slept with students from time to time, but nobody ever made any big deal about it. Mina was the most recent I knew of, but he never showed her any special favors so… when she dropped out of school a few of us started asking questions, until she said she was working on something special for the Professor. The last couple of days just started going so fast I can't…" Tanzowas starting to shake, and by this time Hana was walking in with Shino, who was holding a tray of food.

"Give this kid the steak. Shino, you're with me."

The drive down to Akado's house was a quiet one, Shino didn't like being up this late either, but somehow he silently understood the scale of their case was much bigger than they had originally thought.

"A College Professor with a beachfront house, we're in the wrong business partner." Shino cleared his gun from his holster and watched from the side as they approached the door. a few loud knocks and couple of doorbell rings have no response. Shino pointed to the side of the house, where there was some light coming from a side light. Hopping the fence, they found it wasn't the side light but the light from the back of the house facing the beach. Out on the sand was a dark, lonely figure.

Akado's face was visible when he turned his head and saw two police officers staring at him. He let out a laugh followed by a sigh of resignation.

"It's not easy, you know. Going through life, thinking you're meant for greater things but always missing out on them. Then when you are finally given your big chance it turns out to be more than you can handle. Do you know what that does to a man?"

"If you're talking about the study, my opinion is that you were bad before that even came your way." Kiba motioned to Shino to holster his gun.

"A couple of vice cops, we're in the same business you know. I study the effects of drugs on the body, you study their effects on the mind, how they influence decision making. Last time I had a hit or did a line was back in '69. Those were the days."

"Kiba," Shino's voice was low, "Look at his hands." There was a shadow of something in his hands, barely visible in the moonlight.

"Why are you here detectives?" Akado seemed stable, but situations can change quickly.

"We caught Tanzo at the hospital." Kiba announced, slowly moving to get a better view at Akado from the side.

"Oh? And what was he doing there?" A response that open ended still left plenty of room for him to slip his way out, deny any involvement.

"Moegi's awake." Shino added. "We have the files." Kiba quickly turned his head to Shino in shock. It was a bold-faced lie, but Shino's poker face was flawless.

"I see…" Kiba's head turned back at the sound of the gunshot. Akado fired a bullet into the sand before throwing his gun onto the beach. Shino came forward with a pair of handcuffs and took him inside. After a call, a squad car came to pick Akado up and take him back to prison.

"What was that?" Kiba shouted at Shino when the squad car was out of sight.

"While you spent your time pointlessly following him around town, I was talking to former colleagues and students. He had been passed over for so many promotions or other opportunities that he was already suicidal. Do the math Kiba, he was sitting alone on a beach with a gun in his hands. Chances were that the attempt onMoegi was going to fail, and when she woke up it would be the end of his case. He was contemplating suicide already, I just gave him something else to think about.

"And you didn't think to try to talk him down?"

"It was a 50/50 shot he'd either kill himself or come quietly. Those are better odds than we usually get."

"And what about Moegi? What if she doesn't wake up?"

"I told Hana to page me if the girl's condition changed." Shino took out his pager and tossed it to Kiba. The time of the page was about the time they had arrived at Akado's house.

"If her condition changed? What if it got worse?"

"Like I said 50/50 chance." Shino shrugged his shoulders and sat down in the passenger side of the car. Gritting his teeth, Kiba sped back to the hospital, finding that the girl had woken up and was in a talkative state.

"Between your poker face and your knack for playing the odds, remind me to never bet against you again." Giving Shino a slug on the arm, Kiba sat down in the hall and rested his head against the wall.

"You care about the rest of the story?" Shino asked. Inside Hana was writing down everything Moegi was saying, from Mina's affair with Akado, to the drug dealing, to taking special liver samples for the study, to Mina's addiction and paranoia, and the files detailing all the work Mina did for Akado in a safety deposit box.

"The rest of the story?" Kiba pondered a moment and let his eyes drift up to the ceiling, "Nah, I'll leave that to Paul Harvey."


	8. Case 2 - Violence is Golden

*** Last week I was absent for personal reasons, everything is fine and back to regular schedule ***

* * *

The morning routine was always the same: wake up, exercise, dust the apartment, shower, breakfast, and then dress for work. But on this day, Shino got out of the shower to a couple of surprise guests.

"Oi, Shino. Put on a towel and come out here already." Kiba's voice boomed from the kitchen.

Throwing on a white shirt and shorts, Shino wondered whether Kiba had picked the lock on the front door, stolen a key, or broken a window to get in. Reaching the kitchen he saw Hinata standing by the stove and he remembered giving her a spare key.

"Good morning Shino." Hinata nodded politely and turned her attention back to the stove, "Please sit down, breakfast is just about ready." Eggs, grits, hash browns, and Kiba's signature thick-cut bacon looked to bethe morning's spread. Grabbing the orange juice out of the fridge, Shino noticed the bowl of cantaloupe and pulled that out as well.

After saying grace, at Hinata's insistence, the three started chowing down. Gracefully dabbing the corners of her mouth after finishing her hash browns, Hinata's gaze drifted around the room. "You've been in this apartment for what, a year now?"

"A little under a year, moved in last April."

"That's right, I remember doing a 'house-warming' at the time." Hinata frowned and turned her attention back to her plate for a moment. Tapping her fork on the edge of her plate, she nodded. "Alright, since it's my day off today I've decided you two are coming with me."

"What?" Kiba almost choked on his orange juice.

"Almost a year and your apartment is barely furnished. And you Kiba. Your place is just a step above barren. No wonder you two don't have girlfriends."

"I don't see what that has to do with-" Kiba tried to defend himself.

"You keep your bed in the living room and your bedroom is where you have your workout equipment. At least Shino keeps his weights stored in the closet."

"You went through my closets?" Shino wasn't really surprised, truth was he took long showers and they likely got bored waiting for him.

"We're going shopping today and I won't hear any more complaints." Hinata was rarely forceful, but when she was there was no use arguing with her. On the counter, Hinata's mobile phone rang. Picking it up she answered, "Hinata here, yes, what? Hold on. I've got to take this." Getting up from the table she walked to the door and stepped outside.

"Saved by the dial." Kiba chuckled as he took a bite out of a thick piece of bacon.

Taking a critical look around the apartment, Shino shrugged his shoulders and realized it was a little bare. He had considered purchasing a stereo system and a few more lamps and even a couch, but there was never time for any of it after he was done with work. Moreover he has put a lot of money towards his car, but given that it was a work expense he was likely to receive most of it back on his taxes.

"You're joking. I can't believe you are doing this today!" Hinata's raised voice was not diminished by the closed screen door. Hanging up her cell phone she came inside and finished her breakfast plate in a rush. "Better eat up, no time for leisure today. I'll see you both at the station." On the kitchen counter, Shino's home phone rang. "That will be Sergeant Nara, tell him I'm on my way." Washing her plate and hands, she put her hair in a pony-tail and drove away in her car.

"Dodged a bullet there, didn't we?" Kiba sounded relived to avoid shopping.

"You know what they say Kiba, 'it does no good to dodge one bullet when the gun shooting at you has five more shots.'" Polishing off his bowl, Shino grit his teeth and picked up the phone. "Shino here."

"Shino, good. Guess Hinata was over there this morning after all. I need you and Kiba down here pronto. A couple of Feds are here on a case you two have done some work on and it's not pretty." Shikamaru sounded more upset than nervous, usual emotion when dealing with federal agents.

"Which case?" Shino inquired.

"The one you've been coordinating with Monroe County, the gun runners from the Keys. I've had Captain Mifune from down there calling me at least three times an hour asking what's going on. Get down here now," pausing for a moment, Shikamaru continued, "and Shino, no baggage please."

Half disappointed, half frustrated, Shino hung up the phone harder than he usually did. "Finish up Kiba." Going to the bathroom, Shino brushed his teeth and grabbed his keys before bolting out the door to the station with Kiba in quick pursuit.

Obviously trying to keep things light, Kiba made a show of his bravado, "Don't stress too much Shino, these Feds are all pushovers. They're here to make a show of jurisdiction, but in the end we'll wind up doing all the work, and they'll try to take all the credit. It's a song and dance to them, but they all have two left feet."

"We'll see." Taking off his sunglasses, they made their way out of the garage and to the office. There were two suits standing on opposite sides of the captain's room. Shikamaru was standing outside the office on the phone; Inspector Hiruzen was holding his own with the two agents while Captain Kakashi napped in the corner.

The first agent's bowl cut was overshadowed by his thick eyebrows; he seemed way too energetic and forceful. The other agent was a woman, hair done in a very distinctive two bun style. Sounds of an argument from another room caught Shino's ear, and through a cracked door he heard Hinata arguing with someone else.

"Okay Chief, what's all this ruckus about?" Kiba asked Shikamaru, who rolled his eyes at being called chief again.

"Let me give you the short version before they talk your ears off." Shikamaru motioned to the Inspector's office. "The man in there is Special Agent Lee, Rock Lee, if you can believe that's his real name. He's from the FBI. The gun runners you're tracking have local mafia ties, which is the FBI's main job. Of course, the guns are very specific which has brought her, Special Agent Tenten from the ATF. She's already tracked a few of the guns from earlier shipments and wants to get a step closer to the source."

"And the one arguing with Hinata?" Shino asked with perfect timing as the door opened on the other side of the room. Following Hinata was a man who almost looked like her twin; long brown hair, white eyes, and a trim build that was hidden by a well-tailored suit. The man didn't look like any federal agent he had seen before.

"Special Agent Neji Hyuuga." Extending a hand, Neji shook Shino's hand before reaching towards Kiba, who glared instead of returning the handshake. "I've heard about both of you from Hinata. If you didn't know we are-"

"Her older cousin, spent a lot of time in boarding schools, saw her mainly on holidays." Kiba was showing off that he knew more than was expected. Neji was not surprised, but simply nodded. "I know this is not goingto be easy for any of us, but let's try to remember that we're all on the same side here, regardless of who gets the collar."

A knock on the glass window of the Inspector's office caught their attention; Captain Kakashi motioned for all of them to come in. Shikamaru transferred his phone call into the office and went in. Nine bodies made for a cramped office, but Inspector Hiruzen didn't much look like he cared about comfort, perhaps he was making a subtle point about the case by choosing his office for the meeting. Picking up the phone, he answered the transferred call and put it on speaker. "Can you hear us Captain Mifune?"

"Yes Inspector Hiruzen. Let's hurry this up, if you please."

"Of course." Opening a couple of files on his desk, Hiruzen examined the papers before passing them around.

"It's easy to see why this has become an inter-departmental nightmare, from the get-go it was a mess. Two gun runners, stationed down in the Keys. If they stayed down there it'd be a matter for Monroe County officials, but they bring their wares up here to Konoha, Making it a Konoha-Dade County matter. We initially decided to cooperate and coordinate our efforts, but things got out of hand. Captain Mifune, please continue."

"Our efforts have centered on capturing two individuals, Zabuza Momochi and Haku Yuki. They've been a thorn in our sides for months now. We've been following them for over a year now, and each time we've searched them we've come up with nothing. They have a sophisticated network of exchanges and drop points throughout the Keys, we've never come up with anything, after the sixth search warrant the judge told us he wouldn't grant another without good cause. They run their operation too clean down here, no slip-ups."

"But we know it's them," Agent Tenten interrupted, "we've captured a dozen firearms that we're sure came from them, but no criminal is willing to testify against them. They're like ghosts in the criminal community. One time we got someone to testify against Zabuza, but the night before he was going to sign a deposition, he was found dead in his prison cell, turned into a human pincushion."

"So why do we have the suits here?" Kiba's blunt question caused Captain Kakashi to groan.

"The reason we're here-" Agent Lee started off but was cut off by Neji, who threw Zabuza's file down on the desk.

"Zabuza, lied about his age to get into the marines at 15, 5 tours of 'Nam from 70-74, fought against the Khmer Rouge as a freelance mercenary from '75-79, Special forces from '82-84, where he was special envoy to theARDE. After a dishonorable discharge he started up this business, and we've been tracking him ever since. But he's gown to be too much of an embarrassment for the government."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the little song and dance they put Colonel North through last year." Shino was all too familiar with the Iran-Contra affair. Though most of the traffic from Central America was going towards California, the drug trade was damaging from start to finish no matter where it was located. Neji's expression turned cold at Shino's remark.

"Look, I don't care what the motivations are." Hiruzen took back control of the meeting. "People are getting hurt and you can either work together or bicker until lunchtime. I say the easiest way to deal with this is to catch the guy first, and then argue once he's in custody, agreed?" Agents Lee and Tenten nodded, Shino and Neji stared at each other before Neji nodded in agreement as well, "Good." With a sigh, Hiruzen looked to Hinata as people began shuffling out of his office. "Anything the DA's office has to say about this?"

"Don't overcommit yourself. If you're putting this much into capture, don't come back empty-handed. At least that's what I think Mr. E would say something big and grandiose like that." With a chuckle, Hinata nodded to Kiba and Shino's office, and the two followed her in. "I've read about these guys, you two need to be careful. This isn't like chasing around drugged up yuppies or slapping pimps. These two are killers."

"Is he going to be a problem?" Kiba was staring at Neji.

"Oddly enough that's what he asked me about you two." With a laugh Hinata took a seat. "Shame we don't get to go shopping today. You two owe me a rain check."

"We'll owe you a rain check." Shino measured his response as he sat down too. "But first, you owe us an explanation."

"Oh? And where do you want me to start?" Hinata folded her hands in her lap.

"How is it that after twenty years of tabloids speculating every possible location, Neji Hyuuga shows up in our office as a CIA agent?"


	9. Case 2 - Glory Days

Irish Kevin's was just the kind of place Kiba was looking forward to relaxing at. Close to the beach, lagers on tap, and a rock band that kept the party going all night. He rarely got out to Key West and sadly work brought him here more often than play. Moreover, recreation would have to wait until after occupational responsibilities.

"What's got you so quiet Shino?" Kiba, turned down the radio as they began navigating the streets towards the rendezvous point.

"It's been a long day Kiba, lots of things to think about."  
"You mean the case?" Tapping the car door with his fingers, Shino shook his head.  
"No, I mean about this morning. How Hinata was going to drag us out shopping with her."

"What about it? It's not like it's the first time Hinata has taken charge of planning a day with the three of us. She was kind of quiet in High School, but ever since she got back from college and got that job with the DA's office, she's been the strong and assertive young woman we always knew she was."

"Yeah, but what does that say about us? Can we really use the excuse that we're too busy with work to have the kind of lives we do?"

"You might be right about that." Kiba nodded. His sister had shown up at his apartment with groceries bought for him one too many times.

"Just something I've been thinking about… speaking of which, whatever happened to that one girl you were seeing?"

"Which one?" Kiba winced a little at the thought of ex-girlfriends, though none had gotten serious it was never a pleasant conversation.

"The librarian, the one with the glasses."

"Ah Shiho. Yeah… nice girl, didn't really click between us. To be honest, while I was dating her I couldn't help but think she was more your type."

"Clearly you don't know what 'my type' is." Shino smiled slyly.

"Here we are." The Heron House was one of the older hotels in Key West, dating back to pre-civil war times. Truth be told Kiba was feeling a little irritated by the nature of the small chat he had just shared with his partner; but problems don't solve themselves in silence either.

Inside was a private room reserved for their meeting. Once again Captain Mifune was on the phone, trying to keep from arousing any attention his presence would bring. Agent Lee was in a floral pattern shirt, white pants, and a straw hat – the clear look of a federal agent trying not to look like one. Agent Tenten was in a casual blue sundress, enjoying a cocktail while reviewing a file. Sitting in the corner was Agent Hyuuga, whose red shirt drew attention, but his presence had a way of making people divert their eyes from him.

"Okay, now that we're all here, what's the plan?" Agent Lee excitedly picked up the receiver before realizing that would cancel out the speaker phone function. "Oh, sorry."

"I called you all out here because we need to have multiple nets in place if we plan on catching this particular fish." Captain Mifune groaned a little, clearly not wanting to make the obvious fish reference. "We know Zabuza left 2 days ago. We assume he's going to pick up a delivery from the size of the boat he took out. The problem is that every other time we've attempted an arrest it's been a failure for one reason or another. We need to keep track of him from the moment he gets into port, to whatever moment we can get him with the guns or whatever else he might be smuggling."

"What resources does he have that we know of?" Agent Hyuuga cracked his knuckles.

"We've been able to identify a couple of docks that he uses for his boats, and he has a lot of them. The one in particular we need to watch out for is his custom cigarette boat, The Headsman. Fastest thing I've ever seen on water. And from what we can guess, he's got at least two other boats like it in the area."

"Our assets?" Shino took care to examine the agents as he asked the question. His thoughtful face didn't seem to be that different from his normal one, but the small changes were things Kiba had come to notice in his partner.

"Three coast guard interceptors, but depending on the day Zabuza gets back we can call in another six or so. A helicopter, faster than the boat, but it has a limited range. Finally, we have a couple of good squad cars. That's the best I can do for you out there. Key West is not the primary focus of my duties." Captain Mifune was just being honest.

"No, you're being more than helpful." Agent Tenten reassured him.

"Agent Lee." Hyuuga spoke up. "I remember reading that you've got some helicopter experience, how'd you like to be our eyes in the skies?"

"Perfect." Was Lee's enthusiastic response.

"Agent Tenten, you've been in the most high speed chases. I think you'd be best for the squad car accompaniment."

"Sounds fine. That leaves you with the boat. What about the detectives?"

"Officers, I'd like you to take this in the best way possible. I want you two to be invisible until we are in good position to make our move. Don't engage; don't interfere, until we're sure to get something. Best case scenario, the two of you won't have to do anything."

Kiba could feel his forehead twitch a little, but Shino gave him a pat on the shoulder. "All right agents, we'll play it by your rules. But we all know that this isn't going to go as cleanly as you'd like to think it will."

"Probably not, so stay sharp and stay on the radio." Pulling out a map, Neji lay it on the table and began to plot out flight routes with Lee as Tenten took out her keys and went outside with Kiba and Shino.

"We might not seem it at first, but this isn't the first time the three of us have worked together. Truth be told we've sort of gotten used to it, it's always such a pain for the departments to work together, they figured it's just for the best that we act as semi-permanent liaisons. Those two, they're hard to get along with at first, but they grow on you."

"So, uh… Tenten." Shino seemed a little flustered, "Not staying inside to learn the transport routes?"

She feigned a look of shock before breaking into a full southern belle accent, "Oh woe is little old me. I do declare I'm just a lost little lamb without those two." She continued after they all shared a little chuckle. "I'm going out to learn the roads a little better for myself. That's something you learn from driving, not from looking at maps. Catch you later boys." With a cloud of smoke, she was gone.

"Are we sure these are the same, uptight agents from this morning?" Kiba wondered aloud before starting the engine.

"Who can stay uptight in paradise?" Shino quipped as he put on his sunglasses. The radio came on and started playing "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung.

"Hey Shino, can you tell me what a-" A cold glare from Shino cut Kiba off before he could finish quoting the song. "Sometimes you're no fun man."

The night club was hopping, good scene. Key West was an all right town, a favorite escape for the homosexual community.

Though it wasn't in their jurisdiction, work had taken them down here a few times. Work in the Vice Department often took them to various recreational destinations more often than residential. They'd been in more hotel rooms than he ever wanted to admit, truth be told he had a great deal of sympathy for people who had to clean up after some of the things he had seen in his time.

"Shino, the things we have to deal with… does it get to you at all sometimes?" Though he had known Shino for years, he'd never been the most open person about his feelings. He'd learned back in middle school that if he wanted to know anything he had to ask, and due to Shino's odd communication habits, he had to be very specific with his questions.

"I don't talk much about my experience about the time I applied to the Bureau, but one thing I learned was the ability to reduce things to their base components, remove personal feelings and emotions from the equation." Kiba's eyes widened at the unsolicited answer, Shino rarely talked about the time he had quit College to join the FBI. "It doesn't always work, but that's what works for me."

"I can see that. I think it helps add to your 'quiet cool' personality type. I remember on more than one occasion a dealer has mentioned they were intimidated more by you than my 'tough guy' persona."

"Makes for a good team… so what about you Kiba?" Throwing the question back was to be expected, but Kiba found it hard to find the words.

"I… well you know my mother. Being a cop was always in my blood; being a cop that specializes with working with dogs leads to one of three specialties: tracking, bombs, or drugs. Remember when I worked that summer as a grounds guard at that prison up at Lake Correctional? Tracking was good work, but not fulfilling. What we're doing now, sure it's hard, but it's easy to see the difference we're making."

"Yeah it helps the community, but…" Shino sighed and leaned his head back to look at the sunset, "Well, it does take a lot out of you."

Arriving at the club, Kiba parked the car and stopped it. "Well then, let's try to get a little back. Come on brother, first round is on me."

A small smile spread on Shino's face. "All right."

Inside a live band was playing rock and roll and trying a lot to sound like Bruce Springsteen the E Street Band under a glow of bright neon lights. Tomorrow's problems would have to wait their turn, because tonight had no intention of going out with a whimper.


	10. Case 2 - Highway Star

"So that's him then?" Kiba motioned to the boat coming in at the end of the beach. Eating a burger by the shade of an umbrella was not a bad way to spend an afternoon, but after a couple of days in Key West he was starting to get a little bored.

"Has the right look and the boat seems right." Shino stuff a few fries in his mouth before taking a drink of his soda. "For him to come in at midday like this means he's either confidant about bringing in goods, or he's made other arrangements."

"Likely he has that accomplice of his, what was the name?"

"Haku."

"Yeah. Most likely they have a system to move their cargo that totally confuses the authorities. But to behonest, having done a few cases down at the docks I can't blame the cops out here for not being able to catch him with anything. Working out at sea is hard."

"And yet Captain Kisame makes it look like child's play."

"Don't remind me of that blowhard." Captain Kisame of the Konoha Harbor patrol was known for two things: his manners and his arrogance. He was good at his job, but he was the kind that Kiba just couldn't get along with.

An audible whistle from Shino caught Kiba's attention. Picking up his binoculars and zooming in on Zabuzaquickly caught him up to speed. "Is that the new Ferrari F40? Say what you want about this guy, he's got good taste in cars."

"Come on Kiba, looks like he's going to be driving out of town soon. We need to keep on his tail." Throwing their trash away they got in the Fang and started tailing Zabuza. As far as top speed was concerned, the F40 was better than the RX-7 in every respect, but to avoid suspicion Zabuza would obey the speed laws.

"Gotta make sure we stay far enough back, don't make him paranoid. Wait until I get a car between him and us until you use the radio." The roads out of town were pretty clear for mid-morning. The Overseas Highway usually made for a drive just over three hours to get to Konoha from Key West, but if Zabuza were to make a mad dash in the F40 he'd be there in under an hour. After a few minutes on the road, Kiba was finally satisfied Zabuzacouldn't see their cabin in his rear view mirror so Kiba gave Shino a nod.

"Shino to Tenten, you there?"

"You're coming in loud and clear. What's the situation?" She sounded bored, but that was to beexpected, as she was given a police cruiser for her part of the assignment.

"We're following Zabuza, just passed the Navy base. Nothing suspicious yet."

"Any longer and we might have to move to stay ahead." Tenten and a second police car were on Big Pine Key, another 15 minutes or so ahead.

"What's the news from Neji? Did he get any info on Zabuza's accomplice?"

"Haku? No. Police had tabs on him up until yesterday. He checked into a hotel all the way up in Key Largo but he gave them the slip, must have come back down the Highway last night."

"These two have these local cops spinning in circles." Kiba was doing his best to drive casually, but the van in front of him was really starting to annoy him. For now it was a visual shield, but while it obscured Zabuza's view of them, it made it hard to see the Ferrari, which made his job hard, and was also tragic because it was such a pretty car.

"Lee in the air?" Shino asked knowing that a helicopter would be a dead give-away to Zabuza.

"We've got Lee on the ground here in Big Pine too; he can take off at a moment's notice."

"That Bell he's in is fast, but if Zabuza can drive at top speed, he'll outrun it in no time."

A distinct sound from just up the road tipped Kiba off to Zabuza's acceleration. "Tell Lee to get in the air, I think we've got a chase." Letting the wheel slip in his grip, Kiba dodged around the van and started speeding down the Highway.

"Why's he accelerating? What tipped him off?" Shino put down the radio receiver and adjusted his seat belt.

"Not sure. He's known for spontaneous moves though."

"Perhaps he did this just to see if anyone like us was following him?" A trick like that would be just out ofZabuza's paranoid playbook, but something in the way Zabuza was accelerating without looking over his shoulder made Kiba question that.

The radio buzzed with static as Neji's voice came on. "Inuzuka, you read me? Don't lose track of him, we just found out he's got a port on Big Pine Key along Ships Way. If he gets in his Cigarette Boat it'll be hard to catch him."

"Damn it." Kiba shifted to accelerate after Zabuza, who had a demanding lead on them. While good on streets and offroad, the RX-7 just didn't have the pickup on freeways. Catching up to the Ferrari was pointless, but they still had a chance to catch him before he was able to get his boat up and running.

"Hold on Kiba." Shino advised, "It's safe to assume he knows the police are watching him, he might even know we were the ones following him. It's safe to assume the Ferrari doesn't have any cargo, but if it's in his boat, he's probably confident he can get away even with pursuers."

Shino was clearly trying to be reasonable, but Kiba saw something in Zabuza from the profiles and the way he drove. This was a man who loved speed, but wasn't a daredevil; cold and confident, but not the biggest thinker. If there was reason to be had here, it wasn't coming from Zabuza.

Finally reaching Big Pine Key, Kiba turned off the Highway to the dock houses which were canals dug into the island itself. Large enough to house speedboats, cars, and cargo, but mostly these held recreational boats. This was an odd place for smugglers, perhaps that was why Zabuza was so successful.

Thankfully it had been dry the past couple of days. There was still some dust in the air from where the Ferrari had passed through. Finding a quaint little house, Kiba and Shino jumped out and kicked in the door with their guns drawn. A roar of an engine and a spray of water in their faces knocked them down. Zabuza was speeding away on his Cigarette Boat with a wicked smile on his face.

Finally righting himself Kiba saw that Shino had already gotten up and was struggling with a young woman with long dark hair. She fought like a maniac and had Shino on edge. A hard foot stomp and a head-butt sentShino back to the ground. Rushing in, Kiba caught a high-heeled boot to the face, which sent him into the water behind him.

Treading the water, Kiba got back up to the dock and found Shino firing at an escaping car, but it wasn't the Ferrari. "They had a second car Kiba, VW Golf MkII."

"Let's get a move on." Rubbing his jaw as he got into his car, Kiba revved the engine and turned around in the street to get back towards the highway. Shino was already on the radio calling up the others.

"Tenten, eyes peeled for a light blue VW Golf. We confronted Haku, but he gave us the slip." Kiba was glad that Shino had left out the part where Haku had beaten both of them up. Truth be told Kiba had not expected a man with such delicate features, the photo they had of Haku was clearly out of date.

"This is Lee in the helicopter." The radio line was open at this point; Neji and the others were in hot pursuit of Zabuza's boat but were having a hard time of it. "We're covering the west side from the air, looks like he's going North-Northwest along Hurricane Key, I'll watch him on the west side while one boat circles around the east side of the Key and the other two try to stay on his tail."

"Which one has the guns?" Officer Tenten questioned, trying to yell over the static.

"They probably have it split up between the car and the boat. Tenten, send one of the cars back to secure their dock and the Ferrari." Kiba added his thoughts to the scene while he got back on the Highway to continue his pursuit. The Golf was a great car, but it was loaded down with guns and it didn't have the horsepower to get away.

"Lee," Neji shouted over the radio, "Watch out, he's firing something." Kiba fought to keep his hands steady as he heard a scream over the radio.

"What happened?" Tenten's voice fought to stay collected right as a loud electronic burst sounded on the radio, ending just as abruptly as it came.

"Zabuza shot off a flare at Lee's helicopter. Went right into the cockpit." After a pause, Neji continued. "That lucky son of a bitch." Relief was present in Neji's voice. "He managed to land that thing even with all that."

"Do you have a handle on Zabuza?" Shino asked.

"He's still in sight, but without Lee in the air I'm not sure we can keep track of his position."

"Up to us to make the collar on Haku then." Kiba shifted down and finally caught up with Tenten and the Golf. Haku was driving evasively, keeping Tenten behind him and keeping just enough speed to stay ahead. "Time to show them how Red Fang got his name." Patting the shift stick, Kiba sped ahead just as Haku was weaving to avoid Tenten. "Sorry about this girl." With a sharp turn, he rammed the Golf and quickly spun the wheel to get enough room for another quick ram.

Without losing his tempo, Haku hit his brakes as he turned his car to hit against the back of the RX-7. Knowing the hit would send him spinning; Kiba turned his wheel to the left to align the wheels with the car's momentum. As the car went perpendicular to the road, Kiba hit the gas and let the car go into a controlled spin just as the bridge ended and hit land on Bahia Honda key. Narrowly missing both the bridge rail and Tenten's squad car, Kiba got back in gear and kicked up a flurry of sand as he got back in the chase.

"That was too close and you know it Kiba." Shino did his best to look unimpressed, but Kiba smiled at knowing how hard Shino had been holding onto the car.

"Right, next time I do that I'll try to avoid bridges."

Catching back up, Kiba saw that Tenten was pressing against the side of Haku's car. The lane was definitely not wide enough for two cars, and oncoming traffic from the left side of the road were pronounced with loud horns, but Tenten's siren drown them all out.

"Keep it steady, I've had enough of this foolish driving around." Pulling out his .38 Special, he took aim at the Golf's tires and snapped off two quick shots which took out the back right tire. Between Tenten's pressure and the tire deflation, Haku was unable to drive further than Little Duck Key, where they forced him into the small island's parking lot.

Tenten was out of her car first, holding her S&W up to the door, she didn't take her eyes off him as Kibacame up, opened the door, and pulled Haku out of his car.

"Good afternoon officer, how's the head?" Haku sounded polite, but he was being smug.

Pushing him into the car, Kiba did a quick frisk before cuffing Haku and throwing him in the back of the cruiser. The officer who rode with Tenten was giving him his rights as Shino started examining the Golf. The rear hatch opened to show the back seats had been removed to make room for six large crates. Pulling one to the ground, Shino carefully examined the edges before making his way to open it, but he was pushed out of the way by Tenten.

"Ooh," She was entirely too excited as she examined the firearms, "A Vektor SS-77. I didn't think they were moving proper machine guns; too many times it's just sub-machine guns. What's in that one?" The second crate held Steyr AUG rifles. Another crate had Imbel MD-2 sub-machine guns.

Carefully handing one of the Steyr rifles, Shino announced, "Serial numbers have been scratched off."

"I noticed that." Tenten agreed. "We've got guns from South Africa, Austria, and Brazil here. Quite the global representation." Standing up, she stretched her back and started walking back to her car. "Well Officers, great chase, but I've got to get this collar back to Konoha. Do be good and bring the Golf and the guns back with you. Bye!" And without another word, she had pulled away and was on the road.

Kiba noticed that his mouth was agape and tried to shrug off Officer Tenten's attitude, Shino put on his sunglasses and held out his fist to Kiba. With a quizzical look on his face, Kiba rolled his eyes when he saw Shino nod his head towards the Golf. One round of Rock-Paper-Scissors later, and Kiba was sitting on the ground with his spare tire, thankful that the tires were close to the right size. Shino took a moment to walk out to the beach before lying down in the sand.


	11. Case 2 - Invisible Touch

"So your cousin is all right?" Sakura wound her fingers around the chord of her office phone. Hinata had been on the phone nearly the entire day, sending messages back and forth from one office to the next, and she chose to spend her break making a phone call to her friend.

"Yes. It was a big operation, the helicopter was damaged but no officers were hurt."

"That's good. Let me see if I got this right. They caught the guy in the car, but he's been giving the cops the silent treatment."

"Mr. A isn't worried about him. It's going to be an open and shut case. Kiba and Shino were worried about jurisdiction for the arrest, but in the end criminals get prosecuted by the same court, and they're happy I'm helping run that. The guns violate any number of federal laws, so we'll get him in the District Court."

"Any news on the partner, the one who got away on the boat?"

"We got news in just a little while ago that the smuggler ran into Konoha Harbor patrol. Apparently Zabuza was killed in the chase and the boat confiscated."

"So that's it then?" Sakura was glad to hear Hinata's sigh of relief.

"Just another day on the job for the Assistant DA."

"See you later tonight then. I've got to help clean up before I get home."

"I'm going to make a stop by the store on my way home. Need me to pick up anything?"

"Yeah, get some of those peaches. I think I'll make a cobbler later tonight."

"Oh that sounds perfect. Gotta run. See you later." With a quick hang-up, Sakura was alone in her office again.

Truth be told it had been a quiet day. Nothing too busy had happened, Dr. Sasori had come in late, saying he'd work the evening shift to make up time. For head mortician, he kept very odd hours. But it was nice to have a boss who volunteered to work swing shifts and weekends.

Finishing her work was easy enough. A few forms to write, a few files to store, a few bodies to put in cold storage. As much as she liked her job, she couldn't fight her medical school training. Preserving life was just more fulfilling than studying death. Still, she knew she could make a difference anywhere she was.

Closing up her examination room, she got ready to leave when she saw a light come on in the back rooms. Apparently Dr. Sasori was in the rear receiving bay. She was about to walk down in that direction when she heard a deep voice yell out, "Get that door closed!"

Ducking into her office, she turned out the light and steadied her breathing. It was an odd reaction, but the yelling had surprised her. The sounds of doors quickly opening and shutting were followed by the squeaky wheels of an examination table moving across the hall.

"What did I tell you about leaving the door open?" The deep voice asked again.

"The lights are all off," Dr. Sasori answered, "my assistant is always the last to leave and her office light is off. We're the only ones here."

Curiosity got the best of her and Sakura made her way to the end of the hall. Sure enough the double doors were still open by a crack, a bad habit of Dr. Sasori's. He was always too busy thinking about something else to close the doors behind him.

There was a body bag on the examination table but it was the other man who caught Sakura's attention. He was wearing a police uniform, but the tattoos on his face gave him a rather menacing look.

Opening the bag, Sasori got out a syringe and began filling it with a vial he had in his coat pocket. "Are you sure we're in the clear?"

"Yeah, I was on the boat with the Hozuki kid. He's still a little wet behind the ears, but he knows how to keep his mouth shut."

"I remember him; his older brother was your old partner. Shame what happened to him."

"It's thanks to Mangetsu we're doing what we're doing in the first place."

"Hold this one down." Dr. Sasori motioned to the stiff on the table. The body looked a little wet and cold, like it was taken out of the harbor. That's when Sakura recognized the officer, Captain Hoshigake of the Harbor Patrol. That meant the corpse was Zabuza.

With a careful arm, Sasori finished the injection and pulled out his stethoscope. He waited a moment before taking it off and nodding. "The stimulant is working. Now we just wait for him to wake up."

Covering her mouth, Sakura stayed silent as the body on the table stirred and sat up. Baring his sharp teeth, Zabuza cracked his neck and looked around at Kisame. "That hurt you bastard."

"It's not my fault you fell wrong after I hit you with that sedative. We had to make your _death_ look convincing."

"What about Haku?" Zabuza asked.

"Arrested and in the system, just as planned." Sasori added.

Carefully backing away, Sakura walked as silently as she could to the exit of the building. Getting in her car she checked in her rear view mirror several time to make sure she wasn't followed on her way home. It wasn't until she locked the door and sat down on the couch that she was finally able to calm herself down.

Conspiracy was not the first word to come to her mind, but when it did things still weren't making sense. The entire scene had been surreal, like something out of a David Lynch film.

Hinata came home, obviously distracted and in a bit of a temper. The peaches spilled onto the counter as she dropped the bag down.

"Everything was fine up to our phone call," Hinata steadied herself on the bar counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, "After that, things just got way too weird."

"You don't say?" Was all Sakura could think to say.

"Get this. We got a call from Mayor Danzo, who had the governor and Mr. A in his office. They apparently are going to rush this whole case through court so fast and so quiet that nobody in our office is going to even see the brief of it. Worst part about it was Mr. A told me he wanted me off the case. He literally said, 'Not this time Hinata, pick your fights.'."

Getting up from the couch, Sakura began washing the peaches for the cobbler. As casually as she could manage she said, "Dr. Sasori helped fake the death of the gun runner from earlier today. I was too afraid to confront them so I snuck out of the office as quietly and as quickly as I could."

"You're sure he didn't see you." Hinata came close and gave Sakura a hug. There was an unspoken protective instinct to Hinata.

"I think so, but I can't say for certain. Thankfully it's Friday and I'm not working swing this weekend. But I'm not sure if that makes me feel more uncomfortable or not."

Pacing back and forth, Hinata finally nodded and went to the phone. "I'm going to make a phone call. We'll get Internal Affairs on this one, meanwhile I can use the break Mr. A gave me to look into Officer Sasori's record... think I'll put in another phone call, we'll have Sasori followed just in case."

"Thanks Hinata." With a sigh, Sakura let herself sit down on one of their bar stools. "I've been telling myself it's time to start working at a hospital instead of the morgue for a while now."

"I wouldn't make that move so fast if I were you." Hinata smiled as she spun the dials on the phone. "By the time we're done with Sasori you'll be in charge of the Konoha Medical Investigation Unit."

* * *

The Chinese food place was a little more upscale than Kiba was used to, but Neji had insisted on paying so he decided not to refuse. Initially the waiter tried to get him to wear a tie, but Lee had come by to wave him through.

Seems like the initial tension Kiba had sensed between these three was just the way they were. Just like how Kiba and Shino constantly teased each other. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the Feds weren't as uptight as they seemed to be.

"You aren't seriously saying that you had no injuries from that helicopter crash?" Shino asked Lee.

"If I'm at all sore, it's from sitting in that tiny seat. They're fine machines but the manufacturers don't bother spending their money on things like comfort." Lee joked before chomping down on his wonton soup.

"That was some fancy driving Kiba." Officer Tenten leaned to her left and poked him in the side with her elbow. "You take classes on that in the force?"

"You'd be surprised to know that my mother actually teaches advanced driving courses, in addition to breeding our crime dogs." Kiba took a bite out of the grilled pork, and reminded himself to bring some extra home for Akamaru. Hana had called to say she was going to leave him at the house downtown tonight.

"It's good to know we have some solid officers backing us up." Neji tapped his chopsticks on his bowl before starting on his second serving of fried rice.

"I wish you guys could meet our trainer. Officer Gai helps coordinate interdepartmental activities, he's worked with us for five years now. Seriously impressive." Lee said while beaming.

"Gai is an old school G-man, Lee takes a little strongly after him in style." Tenten teased.

"How long are you going to be in town?" Shino asked.

"We don't have to report back until Tuesday. Did you have any plans?" Neji took a drink of water and pulled out a schedule book from his pocket.

"I've got a friend down at the Orange Bowl. I can get tickets to the Genesis concert on Sunday."

"No way!" Tenten and Lee both scooted their chairs closer to Shino.

In an aside to Neji, Kiba asked, "Are they always this excitable?"

"Only when they're off duty."

"Okay, I have to ask." Kiba lowered his voice and spoke plain. "What's the deal with you and Hinata? Same last name, looks are way similar. She's never mentioned you before, but everyone in Florida knows about the Hyuuga family. Your dad was killed when you were what, three, four?"

Patting the sides of his mouth with his napkin, Neji nodded. "Four, yes."

"So what's the story?"

"Where I've been the past 20 years, or why I'm working for the CIA?"

"Do I only get one story?" Kiba raised an eyebrow.

"Only one per night... and only if you cover dinner." Neji's face went from expressionless to having a sinister smile in an instant.

Raising his hands in defeat, Kiba laughed. "All right, keeps your secrets. I'll just ask Hinata about it some other time."

"That's fine." Neji looked down, getting lost in the past for a moment.

"Great, what about you Kiba?" Tenten's question seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Kiba and Neji both looked up at once.

"Of course Kiba's coming along." Shino gave him a death glare as if to say 'Don't leave me alone with these two for an entire night.'

"The Genesis concert. Weren't you two listening?" Tenten's face was a little red, looking slightly angry."

"Why of course we're going. Who'd miss out on Phil Collins?" Neji gave Kiba a wink before turning to the waiter as the check came.

Leaning back in his chair, Kiba rolled his eyes and folded his arms. Something told him he was going to be stuck with this crew for a little while longer, and he was okay with that.


	12. Case 3 - All Through the Night

The Orange Bowl had been an incredible venue, how Neji got seats in the front wasn't surprising, given his family connections. 'Odd how family connections works in context of both rich families and the Mafia.' Kiba allowed himself a chuckle, which drew a look from Shino.

"It was a good concert Shino, going to miss those three but I think we've had enough time off the past day or two."

"They were quite affable to work with." Shino drove his car back to his place where Kiba had parked his car. No sense paying for two parking places at the stadium when one was good enough. Getting out of the car, Shino raised his voice and said, "Finally it's here."

Turning his head, Kiba saw a package on the porch that hadn't been there when they left. Shino went inside, rather more excited than usual. Figuring his partner wouldn't mind if he came to see what the fuss was about, Kiba followed him in and closed the door.

"What could get you this excited after a night with Phil Collins?" Kiba teased Shino before sitting down on the ground. Looking around Shino's apartment, he realized that Hinata really did have a point about the two of them needing new apartment furnishings.

"I have a friend in the record business back in London." Shino pulled out a pair of scissors and began to open the box. "You remember Mr Funeno, the music professor back in High School? Well he went to England in '84, worked the Live Aid event in '85, and became a minor player in the industry over there. He sends me advance copies of albums every now and then."

"I wasn't in music class, but I remember the guy." Kiba looked over to the entertainment center on the wall. In a box next to the Betamax were all the tapes from Live Aid, Shino had recorded over 16 hours of that concert, of which only a few of the tapes actually had numbers that were worth rewatching.

"Anyways, he's been going bananas over the new Phantom of the Opera musical that premiered last year and…" Getting through the packing material, Shino finally lifted the vinyl in his hands, "Here it is. An entire year before it's going to come out here in the US."

Kiba yawned and tapped the back of his head against the wall. "That's nice Shino." He had thought it was going to be something a little more exciting than a musical.

"All right, fine. You don't have to be impressed; you are free to go home any time." Shino didn't seem angry or disappointed, though longtime friends and partners, they had very different tastes.

"I'll see you tomorrow Shino." Kiba was already in his car, revving the engine by the time the pipe organ started blasting.

Konoha at night was his territory. All animals seemed to have a great sense of their territory and surroundings, odd that for Kiba it was less a geographic area but more of a temporal one. It was nearly 2 a.m., the streets were still alive, but it was still early March. The snowbirds were starting to migrate back north and the city was looking forward to warm spring nights and preparing for the hot summer afterwards.

Driving the red fang under the neon glow of city lights gave off a surreal impersonation of daylight. Every color transformed into an electric blend with another in the right light. Even the sky took on an odd mix of purple and orange at the same time. Driving along the strip, the sounds were much the same. Rock cafes with their high energy guitar solos faded away as island rhythm and Spanish vocals took over, only to be replaced by needles scratching vinyl records of the Konoha Bass clubs. Someone sounded like he was singing a song from the last 2 Live Crew album; looking over at the stop sign, Kiba recognized the man as Mr. Mixx, meaning it actually was 2 Live Crew.

Eventually reaching the beach, Kiba parked the car and took off his shoes to walk along the sand. It was early Sunday morning; a group of teenagers were fooling around by the bridge to a boom box playing some Cyndi Lauper song. They were just happy to have the weekend off; happy to live in a world with no limits. A homeless man sat on a bench, finishing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper before spreading the pages over himself as he lay down to sleep.

The tides were going out right now, likely be another hour before low tide though. Taking a moment to look at his situation, Kiba realized the reason he hadn't bothered to furnish his apartment was because it had never really felt like home. Putting stuff in there likely wouldn't help the situation. Picking up a sea shell and throwing it, he realized, "Guess I'm going to have to find a new place."

A vibration on his waist reminded Kiba that he had taken his pager with him. Checking the number, Kiba realized it was from Shino. Thankfully there was a pay phone nearby.

"What's the news Shino?"

"Got a call from the station. We need to get on it right away. You know the Fontainebleau Hotel?"

"Yeah, the one from Goldfinger, everyone in Konoha knows that place, it's a classic."

"Well we have a classic case of murder down there, and we're the ones getting stuck with it."

"Okay, I'm already down on the beach; I'm there in five minutes."

"Perfect, see you in fifteen." The one advantage to working at night was being able to accurately predict travel time due to the absence of other drivers.

On the way to the Fontainebleau, Kiba couldn't help but recognize his mother's Toyota MR2 parked by the Golf Course's hotel; the black body and red fangs painted on the car were unmistakable. As curious as he was to know whether his mother's weekend fling was one of the golf pros, a rich club member, or one of the working boys, he knew couldn't waste his time thinking about his mother's promiscuity. There was blood in the air, work to do.

The hotel clerk looked in a panic as Kiba came in, a flash of his badge put Kiba in control of the scene immediately. "When you called the station, did you call for an ambulance as well?" The portly little man scratched across his chest before nodding. Kiba knew he was trying his best to remain genial, but murder was at play and things were tense.

"Your staff staying away from the rooms?" The man nodded. "Good. My partner is going to be here in a few seconds, he's straight out of a Corey Hart song, can't miss him." The night usher led Kiba up the stairs to the third floor, room 312 before handing him the keys to room 311 as well.

Peeking into room 312, Kiba saw that the room was completely trashed; the bed's mattress had literally been cut in half. There were stains of every kind on the floor, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her. Lying dead in the bathtub was the body of a woman, on the other side of a sea of shattered mirror, tile, porcelain, toilet water, and what smelled like vodka.

Before he could take a closer look to examine, Shino arrived, without his signature sunglasses. "I don't always wear my sunglasses at night," pausing a moment, "but I will admit that was kind of funny."

"Funnier than this scene anyways." Kiba took a step back to let Shino enter the bathroom. "Wanted to see what was going on before I started interviewing people."

"Whatever way you want to do it, this is your show Kiba."

Walking next door to 311, Kiba opened the door to find the likely cause of the scene. Three men and three women were sprawled across the apartment, bottles of alcohol were in various levels of full, and the mess of bodies were all in various stages of dress.

"Go down to the lobby, call forensics to come down and take a look at her body. Also call backup so we can process this lot in here. Then interview the hotel staff and see what the story is with these two rooms. I'll keep an eye on things here until we get some support." Closing the door to the room, Kiba took a chair from 312 and sat down in the hallway as Shino went off to make inquiries.

A sudden flash of curiosity hit Kiba and he opened room 311 again. Sure enough his memory hadn't been incorrect. Along the back wall of the room were two guitars and one giant blond wig. Smeared face paint was another clue, but two drumsticks were also present, though Kiba felt a little sick when he finally saw them.

Locking the door again, Kiba sat back in the hall and sat down angrily. This was definitely not the way he had wanted to spend the rest of his night.

Shino was up by the time two more squad cars and the ambulance arrived. Flipping open his notepad he began to list the facts.

"Local band, play metal and work the local club scene. For all the hairspray they use it's a good thing they weren't smoking, or this would be a completely different crime scene." Kiba chuckled, it was never funny to laugh at the dead, but laughing at dead beats was another matter.

"What's their band called?" Scratching his face, Kiba waved the officers coming down the hall to the occupied bedroom.

"Gold Fox. Apparently only three members of the band checked in tonight, two of them never came to the hotel."

"That covers room 311, what about 312?"

"Here's where things get complicated. Mr. and Mrs. Yamada checked into the hotel tonight. The clerk confirmed that 'Mrs. Yamada' is the one lying dead in the bathtub, while 'Mr. Yamada' checked out a couple of hours ago without her."

Pacing back and forth, Kiba wiggled his nose and exhaled. "This whole thing stinks. Going to be hard not to jump to any conclusions in this case."

"Until we get some facts, it's going to be hard to make any conclusions at all." Shino closed his notebook and went in with the forensics team to room 312. The girls and the band members were woken up from their drunken stupor by the officers.

"Take them down to the station for destruction of property right now. Process them and keep them in jail for a day or two, at least until we get things clear here."

"That's easy for you to say," The officer on duty quipped back, "You don't have to drive them back in your squad car with them smelling like this."

"We could always switch jobs; I've got to go through the mess in there looking for evidence." The officer turned his head to look back to the hotel room before shaking his head in disgust. "Thought so, get them out."

Finally inside the empty room, Kiba turned on the lights and saw what he had missed in the darkness. The giant claymore was a first, but it explained the broken bed in the other room. First impressions weren't always reliable, but it was clear that the band not only trashed their room but the one next door.

The disappearance of 'Mr. Yamato' disturbed him more. That sort of name was as common as 'Mr. Smith' and just as likely to be phony. Which most likely make "Mrs. Yamato' a prostitute by trade and 'Mr. Yamato' her customer.

There was a sequence to events here, one that needed to be carefully pieced together; but there was a sinking feeling in Kiba's gut that it might already be too late to do anything about it.


End file.
